After my bunny based knitting success last week I had been having a peek around Raverly (under the easy only patterns option) to see if there was anything else I could be making. I came across this cowl, which just looked so lovely and chunky, I had to give it a go.
I had to buy the circular needles to make the project but I had what I thought was the perfect ball of chunky wool to make this with. After casting on the 40 stitches required by the pattern, it was clear that this ball of wool wasn't quite as chunky as I thought. The pattern said about 1.25 stitches should be an inch, but my wool was 3 stitches to an inch, so I cast on 80 stitches instead (which fit far better on the needles) and away I went.
I had a brief period of two days where every time I picked this cowl up, I mad a mistake and had to start again. It was awful! I don't know what was going on because it was just 3 knit, 1 purl, but I got there in the end. Clearly just not in the knitting zone.
I'm so happy it turned out nice, but it did turn out different from the pattern for two reasons. 1) I was trying to de-stash with this project and only use the wool I had, and not have to buy another ball. Therefore, I didn't knit to the 15 inches of width the pattern asked for as I just knitted till I almost ran out of wool. 2) I think the stretch in the wool with the 80 stitches made it like mega wide! Plus my tension is rubbish.
BUT it's all okay! Because it was so wide, it means I can fit it around my neck twice (as pictured above) which makes it look thicker, so the smaller width doesn't matter.
I'm slowly learning that just because an item doesn't turn out exactly like the pattern, doesn't mean you did it wrong. I still have a perfectly awesome cowl, it's just a little different. And hey, I nailed the chunky strips achieved with the 3 knit 1 purl pattern. Whoop!
Oh and my next post will be on Wednesday from now on, instead of Tuesday. I'm not digging the two day no post gap on Wednesdays and Thursdays!
