on false starts and finished cowls

A month or two ago, I blogged about my frustrations with a cowl I was knitting. I was thinking out loud about whether I give up, or embrace the imperfection and push on. In the end, I decided to frog the cowl and start again. I knew if it was annoying me at that stage, it would annoy me even more when it was done, and I loved the pattern and the yarn too much to make it just to shove it to the back of the cupboard.

The pattern I was using was Pebbles Two Color Cowl from Craftsy. Once I got the hang of “knit one below” it was a really easy pattern, and worked up quite quickly – this project has been off the needles for a few weeks now. it’s still not perfect, of course, but the glaring flaws of the original are gone, and I am  pleased to say I adore it.

I was even more chuffed when I slipped on this dress the first time after finishing the cowl, and discovered it was almost the exact same green. So now a summer dress that turned into an autumn dress with some judicious layering has now become a winter dress with the addition of the cowl and my favourite grey woolen coat when it’s really nippy. {UPDATED – I’ve been asked about the dress a couple of times. It’s cute, isn’t it? I ordered it from ModCloth – you can find it here*)

I used bamboo needles for the first time (almost – the children’s needles are bamboo so I knew how delight they were) in this project, and I am hooked. Over the weekend I was using metal needles for a beanie for the boys, as I didn’t have fine enough bamboo needles and oh my gosh, such a difference. My next task is to go through and replace all my existing metal needles with bamboo. So soft and warm and just a pleasure to use.

I found my cowl isn’t quite as loose as the pattern. I think this is a combination of two things – 1) I think my needles were 0.5mm smaller than the pattern – I couldn’t get the right size in the right length, so I think I went with length and a bit smaller needle, and 2) tension. I find my knit stitches are quite tight,  and cast on/bind off even more so. Which just means I need more practice, I think. Two beanies and a pair of longies for Beetle on the to-do list should help, don’t you think?

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