Quick Knitting Project for Nasty Weather

Mmmmkay, so I'm about to get real with you and say...
This is NOT a fashion blog.
In fact, if I'm to be perfect honest with you all,
my idea of a fashion victory is when I "accidentally on purpose" match my tank top to my yoga pants... no really.
Having said this, however,
this is my take on one of my favorite accessories of the season:

To say that I'm liking the eternity scarf/cowl/snood trend

might be an understatement.

I love it.

You've seen them all over Pinterest right now.

I'm particularly enjoying the selection of cowls with cables and buttons.

I LOVE buttons.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/KittyDune?ref=seller_info
via Pinterest

Anywho, my beautiful sister-in-law and I were looking at a few for inspiration before Christmas.

She wanted to maybe make one for a friend as a gift, and I offered to "guide" her in the process.

So we hopped in the car and went down to Joann for some yarn.

We found this beauty...

So it was decided.

She already knew how to knit, I reminded how to purl, and we ended up with a really quick and SIMPLE cowl.

I actually loved it so much that I made a two button version for my own friend, and even had enough yarn left to make another, slightly larger one for myself.

So I thought I would share

mostly because I've been prodded by a few of you to post some more beginner-friendly projects.

Trust me, this is definitely beginner-friendly.

If you're not sure how to knit or purl and would still like to give this a whirl (that rhymes!),

there are some fairly good you tube videos out there. I found these:

How to Cast On
How to Make a Knit Stitch
How to Make a Purl Stitch
How to Cast Off

I'm fairly certain that I would love anything with this yarn,

and the great news about this project is:

it's really quick.

you can do it if you know how to make a knit stitch and purl stitch (no increasing/decreasing/cabling/etc)

it uses less than one skein of yarn

the yarn is so chunky that it hides mistakes REALLY well!

What you'll need:

one skein of chunky yarn (I used Lion Brand Wool-Ease "Thick and Quick" in Grey Marble)

size 13 knitting needles (or size to obtain tension- just look on the label)

a big ole button- the bigger the better in my opinion

*Note: You may need a little more than one skein to make your scarf long enough to wrap around your neck comfortably, mostly depending on how tightly you hold/knit your yarn.

Step One:

Cast on 35 stitches.

Step Two:

Purl 1 stitch in every stitch on this row and every alternate row.

Knit 1 stitch in every stitch on the odd rows.

This is called a stocking stitch.

*The "right" side of a piece using a stocking stitch looks like this------->

Step Three:
Put in a good movie (or two) and keep chugging along.

Continue in this manner until the cowl measures about 30 inches.
You may want to make yours longer if you want it to be looser around your neck.

End on a purl row.

Step Four:

Cast off knitwise.

Step Five.

Arrange your cowl and attach a button where you want it.
You can place it wherever you would like, obviously, but I put mine toward the top (see picture below).





Please note that I just tied the button on; it's not a "functioning" button.
I did this because
a) It's a lot quicker/easier
b) If you don't like where the button is placed or how the cowl falls, you can easily cut it off and relocate it.
c) Since it's "fixed", you don't have to arrange it each time you put it on. It just slides right over your head.

Taa Dah!

Nothing ground-breaking, I know,

but a great reward for little effort.

That's a win in my book!

Enjoy!