Upcoming pattern: Cowl Number 2

And how a cowl can give hugs.

My next pattern: Cowl Number 2 is launching this Thursday and it gloriously cosy aran weight infinity cowl that is perfect for those chilly walks. Plus you can put it on and not have to keep fiddling with it like you do a scarf sometimes so it's ideal for when it's a bit breezy too.

Cowl Number 2

And the eagle eyed amongst you will notice something very familiar about it. For it is indeed the cowl cousin of my best selling scarf: Scarf Number 2.

Scarf Number 2

For a while now you've been asking me to do a cowl pattern and other accessories using the same beautifully textured stitch pattern. And as happens so often, it's sat there on my 'to do' list. But then when my Mum died unexpectedly last August, that all changed!

After Mum's funeral, I began sorting through her crafting supplies and there was quite a bit of yarn. Most was stuff that I knew she’d bought recently because we always had “oooo look what arrived today” conversations! But there was a bag of yarn I’d not seen before. I found over 1kg of Jaeger Shetland wool/alpaca aran. Now if you’re going to find a vintage haul of yarn, this ain’t a bad one to find!

I don’t know when she bought it exactly, but it had to be between me moving away in 1993 and 2008 when Jaeger yarns ceased to be. It was also in a Cavendish House bag...the House of Fraser store in Cheltenham...where Mum would often embarrass us on many a sales shopping trip. Mum loved a bargain and took great delight in rifling under sales bins to find packs of yarn (or duvet covers or whatever) in case there was something they hadn’t put out yet. So despite not knowing when the yarn was purchased there was a story forming. Whether it's an accurate story is debatable, but I found it to be strangely comforting and I've written more about this in my post: The Wonders of Yarn.

There was a mix of complete 100g balls and whatever Mum had started knitting, but for some reason stopped. I couldn’t find the pattern so I decided to frog it and give the yarn a good look over. Some critters had been nibbling, but overall it was intact and in good condition. It was too good to simply leave in a bag again so I decided to knit something for my sister and I as a kind of pseudo hug from Mum. And whilst getting a feel for the yarn, I started my now favourite stitch. It became obvious that I was going to be knocking something off my 'To do' list and knitting a cowl like Scarf Number 2. But this was for my sister, I didn’t want a basic cowl, I wanted something that was cosier and had that wrapped round feeling. So an infinity cowl it was and that is how Cowl Number 2 came to be my next pattern launch.

The pattern will be available in all my pattern stores from 10am on Thursday, February 1st 2024 at an introductory price of £3.50 plus applicable taxes where you are.

Until next time…