The pattern is Shawl Collared Cowl by Alana Dakos. You can see how the cowl is worn by looking at the cowl's pattern page on her website. I first saw the cowl in Soper Creek Yarn, the yarn store in Ontario that my friend Geri took me to visit and it really did not pique my interest; I don't think it was displayed to its best advantage. It wasn't until Geri knit the pattern and modeled the cowl on her blog that I saw just how pretty it is, and decided it would be a lovely gift for my mother.
I chose a beautiful all purpose charcoal grey colorway of Mista Alpaca Chunky, which is 100% Alpaca and 100% divine. I had a devil of a time getting gauge and ended up achieving it with US 4 needles - five needle sizes smaller than the pattern suggested. The pattern was interesting to knit and is a good example of those times when just reading a pattern confuses me but when I get into the actual knitting, it all makes sense.
After I completed her cowl, I knit another buttoned neckwarmer just like the one I knit for Aidan's teacher. I discovered when I finished Mr. A's neckwarmer that I had used just under half of the skein of yarn, and decided that rather than put away the yarn and likely never use it, I would quickly knit up another and see if anyone wanted it:
Not long after I posted the "free to a good home" notice on Facebook, my lovely Mary asked for it. We ended up working out a trade - the cowl in exchange for a gorgeous set of votive candles and tray. I still think she received the short end of the stick on that trade. Speaking of Mary, she is a very talented artist and (shameless plug) you can see a small portion of her work in her Etsy shop.
As for knitting, I am selfishly knitting some items for me - stay tuned.
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