Melancia Cowl

Greetings to you all.

I have another design for you today, one that I hope you will be excited about knitting.

And ... guess what? It's almost as quick to knit as a hat!

YES - really, it is! So it would make a wonderful gift - either for yourself ... or those special people in your life who enjoy a bit of festive fun!

This design was actually born a little while ago now ...

... and had been sitting around in a slightly different form for rather a long time, waiting for me to release it to the world. I wore it once in that form.

And then I put it away again. I decided recently that I really wasn't that happy with it, eventually coming to the conclusion that perhaps it looked a little too 'busy', and that it might even work better if it was a bit shorter. So I ripped it back a little and 'fixed' it. All is well at last, and now I am more than satisfied!

I also now have some more of this lovely yarn left to 'play' with, so I shall look forward to seeing what the leftovers will become, eventually! In the end, with my newly revamped design, I used (only) approximately 215 m for my size (M). The yarn is DK weight and a dream to knit. I purchased it from a New Zealand dyer, Susan Beale, who specialises in dyeing beautiful gradients under the trade name Darn Knit NZ .

I have 3 more of Susan's fabulous colour blends in my stash yet to deal to! The cowl can be knit with any DK weight yarn of course, and would look equally delicious in a single solid or semi solid.

Knit in the round on a 5 mm (USA 8) needle, the base of the design features a tree shaped stitch pattern, which is topped off by a star shape. Festive, as I intended it to be.

(Approximate) Measurements for the 3 sizes in the instructions are:

Circumference: S: 50 cm (M: 60 cm, L: 70 cm) Height: All Sizes: 30 cm

There are 5 pages to the download.

There are charts included in this pattern, and in fact for the 'tree' pattern, once the cast on/foundation rows have been completed, there is only a chart to follow. For the star there is a chart to complement the written instructions. It is not a difficult knit, even if you have never followed a chart before. You just need to be able to work k, p, ktbl (knit through back loop) and simple yo (yarn over) decreases. ie ssk and k2tog. And of course, it goes without saying that you need to keep your place/ know which row you are working on. I don't say this lightly, because I have been known to get this wrong myself! Row counters are invaluable, as are pen and paper, when keeping track, useful tip!

One of the other reasons this cowl sat around for so long looking lost and forlorn, is that I had great difficulty deciding what to name it. The colours in the yarn I used for the protype are reminiscent of watermelon, a summer treat in New Zealand and often around at Christmas time here. But cowls do not generally feature in my summer accessory wardrobe! And not everyone is going to want to use the same yarn I used. So the name needed to sound right, more than anything. Such a dilemma!

In desperation almost, I decided very recently, as I decided it really was about time I got the pattern ready for publication, that perhaps I should look up the word for watermelon in other languages. And see if that would help. I came across Melancia, which I think sounds pretty exotic, kind of festive - and, it means watermelon, in Portugese. But sounds better! So thank you Portugal!

It sounds great, I love it - Melancia it is!

Currently only listed on Ravelry, but soon to be available on other online platforms, I am offering a (Ravelry only) INTRODUCTORY DISCOUNT of 25% to all my lovely, supportive subscribers.

By the way, please tell your knitting friends about this, but also mention to them that if they want the same discount as you they should probably also subscribe to my website. Please do not share this code with anyone. I will be offering a lesser discount on my new design releases to non subscribers, from now on. I have decided that YOU are special and should be treated thus!

So ... without further ado ...

Valid on Ravelry until midnight, 2 September 2019, with a 25% SPECIAL INTRODUCTORY DISCOUNT, is the Melancia Cowl ... just apply the Code: Melancia310819 to your Ravelry Cart, before completing your purchase.

I really hope you enjoy this design and I look forward to seeing pictures on your Ravelry Project Pages, and of course on Social Media! (I am on Facebook and Instagram so please tag #goodtogoknitsdesigns and use #malenciacowl if you would like me to find you!

Until next time! Thanks so much for your ongoing support and encouragement.

Bronwyn