FO: Bandana Cowl

I tried to find the time for a quick photoshoot with my poor partner, so I could get some great photos of this. Despite the Christmas holidays, I never managed it. So apologies, but you're going to have to put up with selfies and poor lighting.

The Bandana Cowl was a pattern I clocked yonks ago - probably when it was originally on the Purl Soho blog. I'd been thinking about cowls and scarves; cowls are convenient as they don't have long ends that dangle in things, but with the sort of coats I wear, cowls leave a gap around my clavicle that gets chilly. I was thinking that it couldn't be too hard to make a cowl that covered me up. Then one day on my blog roll: voila! Someone figured it out before me!

The structure is clever, though easy to understand. Cast on at the bottom, work the border in the round, before moving on to some short-row shaping and then work in the round again and do some decreases before the top border. This means it is deeper at the front than at the back, so it fills that gap.

An easy pattern, knitted in the round and it goes very quickly. I made this one in Hayfield Bonus Chunky, which is best described as 'budget', so it was a quick, cheap project. I love the result and use it all.the.time.; in the frozen north where I am now living, it is a useful member of the knitwear family, as I strive to become a knitwear ninja (where you're totally covered in handknits or wool clothing, except your eyes). I'm tempted to make another little cowl to go inside, to be extra snuggly, but maybe I should just knit a second in something that has some actual wool in it.

Great one, would definitely recommend!