Fancy Braided Cowl

While searching Ravelry for fun things to make I came across this pattern for a Double Layered Braided Cowl.  I had already made the Alicia 1-Hour Cowl which has an extremely similar look and directions but uses Super Bulky yarn, single crochet stitches, and only has the one braid.  I gave the Alicia Cowl to my Aunt for Christmas, but John had commented that it was the neatest thing I had made so far!  When I saw this fancy braided cowl I just had to make myself one even though I feel like I've made a ton of scarves and I have at least 10 more that I really want to make for myself!!!  Maybe I just need to make them and give them away...but then I couldn't wear them! OMG, difficult decisions. :)

Anyway, the pattern on Ravelry and the website showed this braided cowl completed in solid colors, which I thought was important so not to overpower the pattern itself.  The thing is I have this aversion to solid colors!  I LOVE LOVE LOVE variegated yarns and anything that has multiple colors and other things going on like tweeds and heathers.  So when I went to the store I tried to stay with a mostly solid yarn, bot no way was I going plain and boring.  I decided to stay with Vanna's Choice and picked Pearl Mist.  I feel like the "linen and cream heather" color will go with so many outfits and I will be able to wear it often.

Since I'm located in Pennsylvania and we just got a TON of snow last weekend I ended up with a couple days off of work.  We did have to spend the first few days digging out ourselves, family, and friends but by Tuesday we could just relax and watch some trashy afternoon talkshows.  I started my braided cowl and got most of it completed with one skein on the first day.

I had to go back to work on Wednesday, so I only had a short amount of time after dinner to complete some more work.  I probably stayed up longer than I should have, but I got everything put together!

A note about the braiding: It's very simple to follow the pictures and braid the four strands together.  I have not yet sewn them in place as suggested in the directions, but I wanted to see how they laid first and make sure I was happy with them before finalizing their placement.  As you can see in the picture, the braid in the lower left of the photo is already twisting, so sewing them in place is probably necessary.  Since the strands of the braid are completed using half-double crochet stitches and then worked into the third loop (not the front or back as usual), this creates a different look on the two sides of the strands.

As you can see, the first picture shows both sides then the second and third are close-ups of the different sides of the strands.  You need to choose which side will face out when wearing your cowl.  The preferred side should face you when braiding.  I chose the side that had the V pushed forward more in the center of the strand (the bottom photo) than at the edges (the center photo).  If I had to guess, it looks like they chose the same in the Ravelry photos.

So, finally, my finished product.  Completely assembled, but I decided not to secure the back.  I kinda like how it lays.  If I get tired of it I can always secure the braids later.

When I looked at the original pattern, it called for two skeins of a solid color.  Since the solid color skeins have more length than the heather and twist skeins, I picked up three skeins of my Pearl Mist yarn.  I only used at most 1 1/2 skeins for the entire project.  But what amazing scarf/cowl doesn't have a matching pair of awesome gloves/fingerless mittens!!!  Next project!