Basic Bulky Beanies and Cowls

On my post-Thanksgiving, Small Business Saturday visit to Stitch Space in Webb City, MO, I went in with the intention of buying something to help support Sasha's lovely yarn shop. I bought several things, but this is the first completed project from the haul.

I previously made scarves for both the daughter-in-law and the granddaughter with a total of three skeins of Plymouth Baby Alpaca Grande Hand Painted yarn. The pattern was Stephanie Pearl McPhee's One Row Scarf.

While I was at the yarn store, I called my sweet d-i-l and asked if they'd like hats to go with their scarves. I was given permission to knit some up, so I bought another three skeins of what I thought was the same colorway of the yarn. Here is a scarf.

Now, let's look at the hat:

Yeah. Way off. I wanted them to have sets, so I used the leftovers to make each of them a cowl.


Fortunately, I purchased too much of this new yarn, so I made a simple, snug cowl for each of them from the remainder. I just cast on the same number of stitches I had used in each hat, did a 2x2 rib for 8 rounds and a body of stockinette, followed by another 8 rounds of 2x2.

I made each of the hats starting with a fresh skein, and each had leftovers. I was able to make a toddler cowl using the above recipe with them, and then I used the entire extra (3rd) skein for the adult cowl.

Trust me. I really, really did use the same yarn for both the hat and the cowl shown here. The hat is in my crazy bright bathroom, and the cowl is on the bed, with Nelea supervising.