Matchy, Matchy

My sister and I have had several conversations about having knitted accessory ensembles that match.  You know, hat, neck, and (possibly) gloves.  It doesn't necessarily have to be the same exact yarn although that isn't ruled out.

I decided I would do this with the Artyarns Ultrabulky.  When I bought the yarn to make my Stria Slouch, I bought enough for a neckwarmer.  My initial plan was Artyarns "The Hug" pattern from the Artyarns Bulky Accessory ebook.  I (selectively) read that it needed two skeins and bought two skeins of the Ultrabulky.  When I sat down to knit it, however, I saw that the second skein called for was the Artyarns Cashmere 5.  I did not have that and wanted to start knitting NOW. 

I found a great pattern on ravelry for Betula Ring by Carina Spencer.  Who, by the way, is fast becoming one of my favorite designers.  She designed Catkin.  But I digress.  The Betula Ring only uses 98 yards of bulky yarn and Ultrabulky has 110.  Woo Hoo!  I was off and knitting. 

It was fun to knit and would actually make a great class, there are a lot of techniques packed into this little beauty.

After an exhaustive review of our buttons at Westport Yarns, I found the PERFECT ones. Really, I was tickled. It may surprise you to know that I had purple thread as well.

I was smart about collecting my supplies to sew the buttons.  In a defensive move (against the puppy) I put the cowl under my sewing basket. 

 

All done, ready to be matchy, matchy and proud of it!

 

And this is a lesson the children everywhere.  Be careful of the pictures you take with your mother's camera.   You never know what she'll do with them when she finds them.