Snood? Cowl? Hood?

And here is my last transfer from my old blog. Vaya con Dios, bloggie.

(Originally posted: Thursday, February 18, 2010)

Although classes are back in session, I've decided not to give up on my beloved knitting; I need at least one hobby that will keep me firmly in the land of the sane.

One article of clothing that I've noticed is all the rage this winter is the cowl. (I've seen various names and permutations of this versatile scarf/shawl/hood hybrid, but I'm going to stick with cowl.) There were a number of different cowls in the Holiday issue of Vogue Knitting and I decided on the Cathy Carron version, with a few modifications.

The Grey Lady

Pattern: #11 Eyelet Cowl, Cathy Carron
Source: Vogue Knitting, Holiday 2009
Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca, Agate
Skeins: 2
Needles: 8

Now, the first difference you might see between my version and the original is the number of eyelets throughout the cowl. I thought that a scarf full of holes would defeat the purpose of keeping out the bitter cold, so I modified the pattern such that the number of eyelets were cut by half. Also, I staggered them so that the eyelets fall across the diagonal by alternating rows of K2TOG, YO, K2 and K2, K2TOG, YO.

Cozy. Me likey.

I also knit an extra 2 inches so that the cowl would fit comfortably over my head. Other than that I followed the pattern as written, which was easy to follow and rendered a lovely finished product.

A note about the yarn: I found it to be pleasant to work with and created a nice drape. Some might find the guard hairs to be a bit itchy, but it totally works for me. Proceed at your own risk. However, the greatest thing about the yarn was the color; it has a base grey color with soft elements of green, purple and blue. If a yarn could be called iridescent, this would be it.

I'm definitely happy with the finished product and have found my cowl to be incredibly warm and stylish; I've received a couple of compliments, which is always nice. Let's see if I can keep my knitting train chugging along!