The Knitty Gritty

When I started knitting a few years ago, I did it for a very distinct reason:

Knitting gave me a connection with the past. 

People have knitted for hundreds of years.

Throughout history, soldiers have gone to battle wearing knitted items made by their mothers, wives, and daughters. Women who settled the prairie knitted gloves and scarves and hats for their loved ones.

It is really an amazing thing; an art form, really. 

You're taking something that is nothing--a ball of yarn--and by knotting it together just so you end up with something that is functional and also pretty.

The other thing about me is that I get really into the things about which I am passionate. When The Lord of the Rings movies came out, my sister and I between us bought all of the music books and the CDs because honestly, those are some of the greatest soundtracks of all time. Howard Shore is a genius. When I learned to play the violin, one of the first songs I tried learning was Concerning Hobbits {still working on it}. When I started watching Supernatural, I started listening to a lot of classic rock and appreciating the talent there beyond that of a casual listener. When I went Revolutionary War reenacting, I started reading a lot of nonfiction on the founding fathers and the time period.

And when I started watching Outlander, I started knitting cowls. 

In case you don't know, a cowl is simply a wide circular scarf. It's different from an infinity scarf in the modern sense because it isn't meant to be looped around several times {maybe twice}. It's meant to be worn close to the neck for the purpose of keeping warm. 

This is Claire. This is Claire's cowl. And this was my next mission in the realm of knitting.

So of course, I looked to Pinterest. I found a pattern through Ravelry, which is a super awesome knitting site! Some patterns are free, some aren't, but if you can't find a pattern there, then its probably never been done. 

This is the picture that went with the pattern--absolutely exactly what I wanted! You can see that it's tucked and bunched up around the neck of the headless/armless mannequin. In the interest of protecting everyone's intellectual property rights, you will find the link for the pattern here.

However, I'm going to share it below. Because it's super easy. Like, ridiculous.

First of all you need SIZE 50 KNITTING NEEDLES! Why am I screaming it? Because these are size 50 knitting needles:

You could kill Dracula with those things! {Or a trickster...}

You also need two skeins {or bundles, as I like to call them} of super-bulky yarn. Mine was a Lion Brand yarn that had some wool in it, and I want to say the color was called "Tweed" or something like that. 

So, in order to knit this, you need to cast on 8 stitches. You pull from both bundles at the same time, so it's doubly thick. Then you knit 40 rows. Then you bind off and stitch the ends together.

Seriously. That's it.

And then you have this!

Mine has stretched since I started wearing it over a year ago this winter. I could probably double it around and be just fine. But it is sooooo warm!!!! If I could do it again, I would. And have, They take, like, an hour to knit. If you're watching TV and occasionally stop knitting to pay attention to what's going on in your show. *One change I would make would be no wool in the yarn...it gets a little itchy. 

If you're looking for a quick and easy project to start knitting with, this cowl is perfect! {And if you like my Facebook post, I might just happen to have a couple purple ones lying around that this happy blogger just might giveaway...}

~Stay Gold!