Cowl Crazy

I'm ready to "wrap up" winter with a couple of final crochet patterns for wearables. Today, it is with 3 cowl patterns. The past couple of winters I have fallen in love with several cowl patterns I found through Pinterest. I have made three of them, and hope to make more. 

The first two patterns are available for free, but I'm warning you, I nearly always have to tweak patterns a bit. Maybe it's because I sometimes use yarn I have on hand and it doesn't match the type used in the pattern. Also, sometimes, my gauge is different or I want it to fit differently. That's one more thing I enjoy about crochet. I have control over how it turns out.

First up, this crochet cowl with infinity loop from JJCrochet's Blog features the Herringbone Half Double Crochet stitch which was fun to learn. I love the look of it. I made one for me and one for my daughter. I chose to make them a little shorter than the pattern, using a beginning chain of 75 for mine (which I made in a round instead of sewing the ends together, but then the herringbone stitch did not turn out right - not recommended). The original pattern has nice pictures of what it should look like.

Next, I made this pullover cowl from Night and Day. This isn't the original site I pinned the pattern from, and I can't seem to navigate it to find out any background. Hope it links for you. What I like about this one is the gentle way it lays in the front. And it's soooo warm! Again, I changed it a bit because I chose a chunky yarn (I Love This Yarn, and an I hook). I tried making it with 2 strands, but it was way too bulky. So I made the following adjustments:

Begin with a chain 62. Follow pattern for rounds 1 through 3. For round 4, chain 3, *double crochet in next 2 stitches and dc2tog in next stitch*, repeat between *s around to end. For row 9, repeat the directions from row 4 except you skip 3 stitches between the decrease stitches. For row 14, repeat the directions from row 4 except you skip 4 stitches between the decrease stitches. Complete the last rows as written.

This is a good time to mention choosing colors. I love the yarn color I used (no pun intended, hehe), on its own. But, it is a little harder to coordinate it with my wardrobe. I can only pair it with my simple black long sleeved T or white. If you want to match an outfit, please take it with you to choose your yarn. Or at least, have an idea of what you would wear it with before choosing a color. I am bad about picking a yarn based on what I love in the store, and I don't think about what I would wear it with. Not smart.

I haven't gotten to wear this final cowl, yet. I finished it up a little late in the season for Oklahoma. But, I might this week, as we have another cold spell on us right now. This one I improvised a bit. I repinned a picture of this before checking it out. The link goes straight to an Etsy site selling not the pattern, but the scarf. And, I found out it was knit, not crochet. Bummer. But I think I came up with something close. I used I Love This Yarn with an I hook.

Begin with a chain of 99. Follow with a foundation chain - my version is to NOT turn, but instead to crochet the next row into the single bars underneath the beginning chain. 

Start this row in the 3rd chain from the hook. Double crochet in each chain across.

For the next and all following rows, chain 3, double crochet in back bar on the top of the previous row of double crochet.

This pic shows to yo for the double crochet, and slip the hook in the back bar of the stitch.

 This pic shows the yarn from the next yo pulled through back bar.

In the 10th row of double crochet, skip the 7th stitch, single crochet, then continue double crochets as before in the 8th stitch and across.

Complete 2 more rows of double crochet (total of 12 rows).

Wrap the cowl around your neck to measure where to place the button. Sew on button, and enjoy!

Let me know if you decide to make any of these. And be sure to let the original designers know, too. They would love to hear from you!