ACcH cowl in Outlaw Vanitas DK

I really wanted to make my friend Kate a cowl from this endless yarn that I have (Outlaw Vanitas DK). Five skeins have lasted me through so many projects that I am basically sick of it, though initially it was a colour I loved.  We thrive on variation...

I really wanted to make the thorn stitch cowl.  It is a free pattern and looks so beautiful!  I had planned to do it in Nepal but of course my queue of projects was longer than the time I had.  Then I mentioned it to Kate, because I was going to also shorten it and make it much smaller, and it ends up she, being an artist, loved the idea of a massive droopy cowl.  Hm.  So I had to go full size...

I cast on, which took so many attempts because of counting all the stitches not being my strong point, and then after three rows I realised I simply could not do the pattern.  I mean, I couldn't get my needle into the stitches.  I couldn't do the thorn thing.  It involves turning three stitches into one and I could not do it.  So I went hunting for a quick and easy cowl, as I thought I would be leaving soon and wanted the project done within the week.

I settled on this pattern, ACcH, which I found by hunting around on Ravelry.

I liked the droopiness of it, but I also thought it would be simple enough for me to get through pretty quickly and I liked how you actually do the increases by changing needle size, which is pretty neat.  It took me almost exactly one skein of yarn to do the whole thing.

Kate likes it but I suspect she would love something Even More Massive and Droopy so I have space for improvement for another time. I think that I need to use bigger yarn to satisfy her, this yarn is beautiful though I am thoroughly sick of it, but it's very drapey and relatively fine for a DK weight yarn.

Mistake Rib Cowl by Purl Soho in Outlaw Vanitas

So what to knit?  I finished my nice legwarmers which I immediately put on and didn't take off for about a month.

I liked the idea of this cowl, which is a free pattern, as a way of practicing pattern.  I also wanted to make the Thorn Cowl but it is 5 feet long wtf??  So I thought I could judge by one cowl how much to shrink the pattern of the second one.  I am still not convinced about cowls for me but as a backup there are lots of other people that like them!  I thought this pattern would be really nice and particularly covet the scarf in the purl soho pictures but a scarf seemed too endless and I wouldn't really wear it daily in Nepal.

The yarn is Outlaw Vanitas (on Ravelry here), the colour is transience.  I really like working with this yarn.  It's beautiful and soft.  The pale ice blue is a lovely colour.  I had considered making the Purl Soho pullover with this yarn but wasn't sure it's the right size, plus it seemed like too big of a project to jump right into.

So, the cowl is pretty easy.  I used the same size needles as the pattern suggests, and it's quite boring and seemed to take forever.

Also I'm not sure why I love Purl Soho so much but I really am inspired by their ideas!  No affiliate links from me, never fear.

At the end I was ready to be done - made it 12 inches as 15 seemed overkill.  This definitely will be a gift.  Still not sold on cowls.

However I do love the depth that the pattern gives and eventually, when I'm cold and have time, I will probably make the scarf for myself! 

And here's Holly in the cowl - she was stoked with her gift! 

Stepping stone cowl

I chose this project to make use of the yarn. When I bought my very first sweater yarn in Delft, I couldn't resist this yarn, but with all the moving, I didn't keep the label.  It's a pretty bulky yarn, and was recommended for size 11 US needles.  

I looked for a pattern that would be easy but would take advantage of the variegated colors of the yarn, and I found this cowl. It recommended size 12 US needles, but otherwise seemed to fit my specifications pretty well.  

I cast on using the size 12 needles and I thought that it was fine, so I carried on with them. Unfortunately, I cast on at work and wasn't paying attention when I put it into the round, so it had a twist in it that I didn't catch for about 7 rows.  I had to frog and start over.  

Other than that mishap it was an easy make.  One of the nurses at work really liked it so I gave it to her.