Tubular Stockinette Cowl

Back in April, Loop hosted their 10th Anniversary Celebration and commemorated it by offering 10% off everything in store. Although I really didn't need anymore yarn (I am trying to use up my stash!), I can't pass up a sale. Plus, I love looking at all of the pretty, colorful skeins! As always, I made Lauren tag along with me; it's not like I had to drag her or anything.

I still hadn't learned my lesson from my previous yarn purchases. I showed up without any real plan as to what I wanted. This has messed me up in the past, which is why I now have dozens of single skeins of yarn. Don't get me wrong, they're beautiful and I love the colors and texture. However, I justified my shopping impulses by declaring, "Oh, I'll make a cowl out of this". Needless to say, those "plans" never came to fruition. If they had I would be swimming in dozens of brightly colored cowls, which still wouldn't make these random buys okay either. Basically, I came to Loop with this same game plan, or lack thereof.

After walking around the store several times and admiring everything, I finally realized that I could come up with a real plan right there in the store. Copying Lauren, I scrolled through my Ravelry queue on my phone in an attempt to find something I wanted to knit so that I could purchase yarn specifically for that project. I selected this circle scarf, but after further examination, I realized that it wasn't exactly what I wanted. I adore the simplicity of the stockinette stitches, but wanted to make it into a reversible cowl. I went ahead and bought yarn according to the suggested yardage of the Fino Circle Scarf with a good idea in mind of how I wanted to alter the pattern.

I made my way around the shop again, this time with a true purpose. I wanted fingering weight yarn in a neutral, yet still exciting color. I found the perfect yarn in Loop's sale section, and it felt like fate since I'd been wanting to try Spud & Chloe. I was debating between a dull brown and a burnt orange. After consulting Lauren, I quickly agreed with her and opted for the latter colorway. Yes, buying several skeins of a boring color of yarn is more expensive and not as exciting as picking out a single skein of brightly colored variegated yarn. But, at least I know it will actually be used and worn.

I decided to stick with the basic concept of the Fino Circle Scarf pattern, endless stockinette stitches. It took some frogging, but on my second attempt, I cast on 200 stitches via the provisional cast on, and knit in the round for 530 rows (thank goodness for row counters). This created the perfect sized cowl that I can comfortably wrap around my neck twice. Once I knit to my desired length, I blocked my super long tube of yarn, and then kitchener stitched it together. For added texture and detail, I added two twists in the cowl. I had a few issues using the kitchener stitch- the first time I completely missed a stitch, the second time two of my stitches were very loose and left large holes. But, I was able to macgyver my yarn and create a wonderful, simple cowl which will get plenty of wear come late Fall and Winter!

Start Date: April 23, 2015
Finish Date: June 15, 2015

Yarn Used: Spud & Chloe Fine 3.75 skeins used (approx. 930 yards)
Colorway: Orangutan
Needles: Size 2 Boye circular needles on an 8-inch ChiaoGoo cable