Behind the trend

You know how some trends are absolutely horrible that you cannot wait until it had run its course? However there are some that are just so good that you hope they will never end. I have always thought of myself as a scarf girl. With so many beautiful knitted scarves out there how can one knitter choose? Yet scarves are long, really long, and although you really loved knitting the stitch pattern, after about the twentieth time through you are ready to give up. Now a cowl is something altogether different. Many knitters started this trend a few years ago and for some reason it didn’t appeal to me until I found the cabled cowl. While this isn’t what I imagine a cowl to be (some sort of knitted tube you pull over your head) I was taken by the beautiful texture of the cables and how cool it is that the button is on a shank that your pull through the fabric wherever you want! I know that this cowl is still kind of a small scarf, but hey it’s a start.

I had some malabrigo worsted that was originally for the Retro Redux Shrug but I frogged it halfway through knowing that it would never look good on me.  The malabrigo was a prefect choice for something close to the neck and I had enough to make this.




I added a few extra repeats because my gauge was a bit off and I wanted a bit more length. The only reason I stalled on this project is because I started it in February and by March I had about ¾ of it done. There was no need for a cowl this thick past March so away it went in favor of some lightweight shawls. Once the weather turned I knew that I would want this finished to enjoy all winter long. We were going into the city the first weekend of December and I knew that going in and out of stores and on the train I wouldn’t want to wear a long scarf. I pushed to finish this and on December 2 it was completed.




I love how the buttons can be place anywhere to give a custom fit. I did manage to loose one the first night I wore the darn thing. The gentleman next to me at the theatre caught the cowl while standing up and yanked the button free.

The only modification I would make is that I wouldn’t have knitted the button hole. I just push the little button through the first layer of fabric and keep it there instead of through the button hole and into the second layer of fabric. That way, theoretically, I wouldn’t loose the buttons.