a handmade cowl.

i'd like to introduce you to my new favorite knitting project, the cowl.  to get ready for our trip across the country i decided to teach myself to knit, never knowing it would turn into one of my favorite hobbies.  as i worked through a baby blanket and knit & lost motivation on another blanket, i decided to take a break and focus on smaller projects.  something super-simple and super-gratifying.

enter the cowl.  i have a major obsession with scarfs, but at the same time, i'm exceptionally picky about the quality of yarn.  for this cowl, i chose two skeins of lion's brand wool from hobby lobby and size 11 circular needles.  i cast on about 100 stitches and once i was ready to knit, knit a pattern of 3 garter stitches followed by 3 purl stitches all the way around.  my sister taught me how to purl, and i'm so glad she did.  i love the variety of stitches in the finished project.  plus all the counting and focus was a bit more entertaining for me.

this took me about 3 days to pull together.  my first attempts at joining the ends were rather embarrassing  so i had to pull this project apart a couple times.  then, once i figured it out, i realized my cowl was twisted, so about half way in, i ripped it apart to start once again.  oh well, i'm looking at it as great practice.

i loved how quick and easy(ish) this project was to complete.  after i finish finalizing the last blanket i've been working on (i finally have the motivation again!), i'm going to begin knitting a few more of these.  one in a chocolate brown- and a few others in a multitude of colors for my girlfriends who are braving the syracuse winters.

note: basically, i've taught myself to knit thanks to this youtube subscription.  she does an excellent job explaining each of the steps and provides some great problem-solving techniques as well.