knitting

Marian Cowl for Natalie

Marian Cowl for Natalie - NoodleheadMarian Cowl for Natalie - Noodlehead Marian Cowl for Natalie - Noodlehead

Marian Cowl for Natalie - NoodleheadSquish!!! Don’t you love squishy things?! I think that’s the main reason I started knitting – so I could have squishy things to wear. Earlier this year at a sewing retreat (at Stitch Supply Co.) I got all excited when I spotted this Malabrigo yarn. I knew it had to come home with me so that Natalie could make a Marian Cowl. It’s a super beginner-friendly quick knit that I immediately scooped it up and bought it. Natalie was excited, too! We had a bit of a set back when she unwrapped the whole skein and I had a minor meltdown when I thought she had cut the yarn into several pieces. Turns out she just tangled it up and I just had to sit down and wind it back into a ball. I had waited months before I even looked at it. Seriously, it seems so silly now.

Marian Cowl for Natalie - Noodlehead

Anyway, once it was in a ball we were set! Natalie cast on all the stitches which took us several times because I kept underestimating how much yarn to leave for the long tail cast-on. With yarn that chunky I really had no idea, maybe there’s some trick I’m missing. So once she got it started, I did a few rows to get things going. I figured because the beginning can feel tricky it was best to get a couple of rows in. She’s great at the knit stitch, but purling is a bit trickier for her to learn (and me to teach). So we tried a few times, but I think the thickness of the yarn made it a little difficult to figure out, especially with needles that big and her small hands. I wish I would have tried for a few more minutes, but I think we’ll try again with another yarn and project. She actually learns it so quickly!

Marian Cowl for Natalie - Noodlehead

So I ended up finishing the cowl. I really loved doing it. The yarn and color are so great and it knit up so quick! Plus after making one already (remember this one I made my mom?) and having more knitting experience under my belt, it flew off the needles. I even had visions of making more for gifts this year, we’ll see!

Marian Cowl for Natalie - Noodlehead


Pattern: Marian Cowl by Jane Richmond
Yarn: Malabrigo Rasta (I think it’s the Porrinho coloway) that I purchased at Stitch Supply Co.


p.s. she learned this face from me

Marian Cowl for Natalie - Noodlehead

15 thoughts on “Marian Cowl for Natalie

  1. Martha Meyer says:

    Love you Natalie !!

  2. Megan says:

    There is a trick for estimating the amount of yarn needed for Long Tail: wrap your yarn around your needle 10 times, this length is approximately what you need for 10 sts to be cast on. So if the cowl is CO with 100 sts you take your little 10 wrap length and measure 10 times that plus another 10 just in case. With a chunky yarn it will be long but better than having to re-do it so many times.

    1. Anna Graham says:

      Oh that’s awesome! Thanks so much for the tip! 🙂 I’ll be sure to try that next time.

  3. Janie says:

    Both so beautiful!
    Nice work.

  4. Megan says:

    Such beautiful children. The cowl looks lovely and soft, the colour suits her very well.

  5. Louise says:

    It’s so lovely that you’re teaching your daughter this stuff. I remember learning to knit in national school at about age 9 – 10, and trying to get my Mum to do the hard parts for me! She made so many gorgeous knits when I was a kid, only now do I get how complex it all was!

  6. Melanie Hastings says:

    Ah, was that the face you pulled when you thought the yarn was all snipped into pieces?! It really looks a lovely cowl – both easy to knit and practical to wear, which is a bonus. I will see if my daughter would like to knit this as she occasionally says she would like to learn. Thanks for showing this!

  7. erin says:

    Adorable! And what a fun project!

  8. Lovely knit, lovely yarn! Even just a few rows with comedy needles is good going, certainly something to wear with pride. Do I remember my Granny telling me that for long tale cast on it’s three times the estimated finished size? Could that work? Just asked a fellow swimming Mum and she suggested finished width times needle size (mm). Not sure being much help here!

  9. Brenda says:

    Another trick when you are casting on a ton of stitches is to wind the yarn into a center pull ball so you have access to both ends, and then use one end as the tail and the other to form the stitches. You will have a couple of extra ends to weave in at the end of the project, but it is worth it in my opinion—you don’t have to start over because you misjudged how much “tail” to leave, and you don’t waste any of your gorgeous yarn.

    I used to work at my LYS, and you always have that skein that just refuses to be wound. (I usually had at least one every day.) Kudos to you for having the patience to work through the tangles, but it happens all the time. 🙁 Natalie’s cowl is gorgeous—she should wear it with pride.

  10. kateg2Kate says:

    Squishy is the new lovely! Here’s another tail estimate trick: Cast on 10 stitches. Then pull that cast-on off the needles and unravel it noting how much yarn was needed. Use that length divided by 10 to estimate the length yarn needed for the full cast-on.

  11. I base most of my fashion sense on what doesn’t itch.

  12. desi*d says:

    Absolutely lovely!
    Would you tell me what needle size you did use and if you changed the cast on stiches for the size of your daughter?
    Thank you!
    Desiree

    1. Anna Graham says:

      Thank you! I used the needle size recommended in the pattern, same number of cast on stitches, too! 🙂

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