Late last year I chose to knit the Lichen Cowl by Lauren Weinhold as my first cowl. I used Bernat Mosaic in the Spectrum colorway, which is a self-patterning yarn, so I didn’t need to alternate between two colors of yarn as the pattern directs. I cast-on only 100 stitches because I wanted a snuggly-looking cowl, not one that would stand away from my neck.
I have no photo of my results to show you because I immediately frogged it. From that project I learned that I didn’t want a rolled edge, that I wanted my purl ridges further apart, and that a snuggly-looking cowl is also one that’s uncomfortably difficult to get on and off.
I replaced the rolled edge with four rows of seed stitch, added one more row between purl ridges and increased my number of cast-on stitches from 100 to 130 stitches; all straight forward changes. I knew the results they would give me. The first cowl measured 6″ high with its edges unrolled. I decided to stick with that height. I liked this second version better, but it still wasn’t what I wanted, which was more fabric at the cowl’s base so it would fill the neckline of my coat. I looked at many patterns and projects on Ravelry, and compared cowls, funnel cowls, and circle scarves, but didn’t come to any conclusion.
After several months, my desire for an alternative to this scarf to wear with my green coat got me to reconsider this project.
I found inspiration for the shape of my newest version in the Chunky Knit Cowl of Erica Knits, and I’m quite pleased with my results. It’s not snuggly, but it’s easy to get on and off and it fills my coat’s neckline, which is what I wanted. The Bernat Mosaic yarn held up very well for having been knit three times!
My finished cowl has a 9 1/2 inch diameter at the top, 16 inch diameter at bottom and is 6 1/2 inches tall. I did the decreases on the purl ridge rows.
I think I’ll make matching mittens. It’ll be interesting to see how different the striping will look because of their smaller circumference.
alottastitches 