Show and tell: cowls.

Everyone’s knitting needles have been busy lately, it seems; we’ve seen so many beautiful finished projects over the past couple of weeks. I’ve captured some of them to share with you here on the blog, and of my current collection, about half are cowls. Let’s devote this post to what has become one of the most popular knitted items, the cowl.

Paula spotted “Sherri’s Cowl” on our blog last month, and came by to pick shades in Debbie Bliss Donegal Luxury Tweed Aran and Shibui Silk Cloud for a pink-loving friend. It knit up in no time on US #17 needles, and before long, she was back with the finished cowl to show us how it came out.

Sherri has been making more “Sherri’s Cowls,” as well, and came by with a stack of five, all of which were knit with the discontinued Araucania Azapa, a sale trunk splurge that had been sitting in her stash waiting for the right pattern. She made the cowl above holding Azapa with two shades of Schulana Kid Seta, a lace weight mohair and silk blend. The cowls below are both made with the same pale green shade of Azapa, but Sherri knit it together with Silk Cloud in a cool gray for the cowl on the left, and a warm beige for the cowl on the right.

Intrigued by the color study of the pair above, Sherri knit another pair of cowls using pink Azapa as the base, shown below. The cowl on the left is a low contrast combination of pink Azapa and pink Schulana Kid Seta, and the cowl on the right is a high contrast combination of pink Azapa and black Sandnes Garn Silk Mohair. The low contrast color combination creates a blended effect, looking rather solid from a distance, while the high contrast color combination makes a marled fabric.

Hazel came in on a chilly afternoon wearing her “Willow Cowl,” knit with another skein from our sale trunk, Araucania Itata. This is a nice fitted cowl pattern to keep in mind for fingering weight yarn; I’ve seen a few knit in Malabrigo Finito that are equally lovely.

Brooke brought in her second-ever finished knitting project, “A Gray Loop” knit with Berroco Ultra Alpaca. Nicely done!

Linda fell in love with this singular shade of Malabrigo Mecha, and knit this cozy “Cabled Cowl” using two strands held together. She came back for more Mecha to make a matching hat, which speaks to the pleasantness of knitting with this buttery soft bulky weight yarn.

Thanks to all these cowl-makers who shared their projects with us, and to all the knitters, crocheters, weavers, and fiber artists who start their projects here at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop. We love seeing what you’re making! Keep your eyes on the blog for another round of show-and-tell soon. In the meantime, see you at the shop!