Over a Yard of Indulgence

Every so often, it’s nice to splurge.

When Bloomin’s shipment of Fleece Artist/Handmaiden arrived at the store, it included batches of Sea Silk and Camelspin. Both were beautiful, and neither is appropriate for socks. So what is a non-shawl-knitter to do? My answer was to think outside the box.


We’ve had a store sample of the Churchmouse pattern Annabella’s Cowl for over a year. But that sample was knit far shorter than the pattern. This sucker measures at 40” in its natural state.


Believe it or not, it does stretch out far wider and is a nice cozy true cowl. What does that mean? It means it can be worn as a hood or down around your neck. It’s not too tight when it’s all smushed down, but here’s Baxter modeling it as a hood:


This was knit using one skein of Camelspin and three of Blue Sky Alpaca Silk. And I used every last centimeter of each yarn. Don’t believe me? Check out the three green boxes in this picture:


From left to right, that’s where the Camelspin ran out, the tail of the Blue Sky so I could finish the last 12 stitches of bind-off with the Blue Sky held doubled, and the loop with the end of the Blue Sky after the bind-off was finished.

I used Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-Off until about the last 12 stitches. Then I switched to a regular bind-off, worked loosely, since I was justifiably worried I wasn’t going to have enough yarn to secure the rest of those stitches.

So the whole thing is super long. Big enough for a two-bear cozy, actually


And I’m quite happy with the final product. It will be a luxurious winter accessory during the cold months ahead. Totally worth it.

Annabella’s Cowl

Pattern: Annabella’s Cowl by Churchmouse Yarns and Teas
Yarns: Handmaiden Camelspin, Blue Sky Alpaca Silk/Blueberry
Quantity: One skein Camelspin, three skeins Blue Sky
Source: Bloomin Yarns
Needles: US 10, 16” KA Switch needles
Started: 6 October 2011
Finished: 9 December 2011
Mods: Knit an extra inch of stockingette to start. Mostly because I wasn’t paying attention.
Not like it mattered. At all.