ONE - GREEN BANDANA COWL
The first actually became a birthday present, but it was still intentioned as a Christmas gift. The Bandana Cowl is a quick and cute knit, but not when you're knitting with 10.5 needles. and you later realize you would have achieved gauge with size 6s. The fabric on this one was a little thin, the fit quite large, the bind off edge a bit loose and curling, but after blocking, it still had an acceptable shape. So with, love, it traveled away into the postal system, so quickly that I forgot to capture it in photographic form. It's up for debate whether or not some of these traits are attributed to the yarn, the pattern, or the knitter. My bet is that it's a bit of each, with heavy leanings towards the knitter. Whoops.Bandana Cowl, as written, #10.5 needles, approx. 150 yards of Lamb's Pride Worsted in Kiwi.
It's a wonderful pattern, though at this point I was beginning to realize that the issues I had with it's short rows might not just be me. On this cowl I made an attempt to modify the written three repeat garter stitch border into a garter stitch edged band of stockinette stitch. It worked, to a degree. It's very pretty. But it does seem to have a tendency to roll. Hopefully, this moisture wicking cotton cowl will be loved just the same. I adjusted my gauge for this one, especially because I was using a different yarn, but found my stitch count still slightly high with a pair of 7s. Oh, how I do wish the Araucania was not discontinued! It's soft, and the texture of the cotton, coupled with a binding thread (I think) is lovely, as is the thick and thin nature of it.Bandana Cowl, modified stockinette band, #7 needles, approx. 120 yards of Araucania Nature Cotton (discontinued) in Az.
THREE - MANOS BANDANA COWL
My third Bandana Cowl. I avoided one of my problems with the short rows this time around. Instead of reaching the stitch marker on one side before knitting all of the stitches on the other, I managed to complete both sides evenly. I did lose the pretty pattern of the centered decrease in doing so. Still, that might be on me.I knit this one on size 6s. The decrease in size on this one was dramatic. It decreased so much that the body was super snug going over the head, and in binding off tightly, to counteract the rolling of the top the other two had leaned towards, it became so snug that it wouldn't go over a head at all! That's what I get for trialing away to get perfect gauge.
I love Manos Del Uruguay in the skein, but this is the second time I've had mixed feelings about how it knits up. I loved the variegated nature of the triangle section, the back and forth rows, and I liked the pooling of the colors in the part knit in the round, but I wish the cowl had been all one or the other instead of a mix of both. That said, knitting with it was a dream, to me. Again, thick and thin, and soft on the fingers in the knitting. I'm learning that color repeats that short are not to my taste, but that's learning.
Bandana cowl, as written, #6 needles, approx. 125 yards of Manos del Uruguay Wool Clasica, color unknown.
I love Manos Del Uruguay in the skein, but this is the second time I've had mixed feelings about how it knits up. I loved the variegated nature of the triangle section, the back and forth rows, and I liked the pooling of the colors in the part knit in the round, but I wish the cowl had been all one or the other instead of a mix of both. That said, knitting with it was a dream, to me. Again, thick and thin, and soft on the fingers in the knitting. I'm learning that color repeats that short are not to my taste, but that's learning.
Bandana cowl, as written, #6 needles, approx. 125 yards of Manos del Uruguay Wool Clasica, color unknown.
CONCLUSION?
I fell in love with this pattern on paper, but I've had trouble bringing it into my reality. I loved learning how to do short rows, and if you haven't done them before, this is a quick and straightforward project to practice them with. It helps that the pattern is accompanied by a well-done tutorial. It is difficult to get the first five rows to close entirely in the back, where the purl and knit rows of garter in the round meet. A small hole also forms between the last two wrapped stitches of the short rows, but it's easily closed when the tail is woven in. Another raveler pointed this out first, but I'm not sure who it was. It also seems that cowl two didn't have that problem.
Would I make it again? Yes. I did and would. With more tinkering.
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