The Carnivale Cowl--exclusive BabyGirlKnitProducts

This is she! The Carnivale Cowl-an exclusive- from BabyGirlKnitProducts!!

Using KnitPicks Chroma "Carnival" and "FairyTale" Worsted Weight

Closer look at the Carnivale Cowl

Carnivale Cowl--Exclusive from BabyGirlKnitProducts

I got an idea for this cowl by doing y daily browse through Pinterest, where I get a lot of ideas with what I want to introduce to my store. I had some leftover KnitPicks Chroma yarn from my exploits this summer and decided to incorporate it into nice cowl.  I used my favorite color from Knit Picks, which is Fairy Tale, and made this cowl.

This cowl is also apart of our Exclusive line. There is no other cowl like it in the world and is sure to be a big seller.

 I didn't cast on enough stitches so with the use of increases in this cowl, which is imperative to the design, which gives it its flowery appearance throughout the cowl.. The ruffles or flares at the bottom look lovely and will fit over any large overcoat or a nice sweater, designed to keep your neck warm and draw plenty of attention with this pop of color in such a drab and dreary time of the year.

Using intarsia, the floats are pretty big. The stitch pattern goes (K10 in MC, K4 in CC) and then the increases are (K20 MC, K4 CC) so the floats in the back are pretty massive. That's the only thing. With intarsia, the fabric will pucker if you don't loosen the fabric. However it's better for them to be too loose than tight. If it's too tight, there is no way to fix it, other than ripping it out and starting over again. 

Carnivale Cowl..another look

Bummer.

So I went along with the cowl, increasing as I went along to make the cowl a tad bigger and creating that lovely effect towards the end, where the cowl tends to "blossom" and look like a flower. The cowl is absolutely beautiful and was fun to make. It turned out a lot better than I thought it would and love the way that it looks. 

Blocking it was not fun, however. Because of the floats, and some of the stitches having a tendency to pucker, I had to  be very careful. Especially because the yarn that I used is acrylic, and we all know that acrylic tends to block  poorly compared to Wool. Wool steam blocks wonderfully. Acrylic? Not so much. But the yarn is beautiful and stands out. With KnitPicks Chroma, you can create the effect with many different color combinations. The possibilities are endless. 

Red Velvet would look gorgeous against a bare or bare pink yarn or Vermont would look awesome on an Orange or Gold worsted weight yarn of your choice. Pegasus would look great with a lime green cowl or yellow. Sugar Cookie and Lavender or a light purple would really set it off. Yes, the possibilities are endless. For a black cowl, I would pair it up with Fog Bank. For a brown cowl, Sandstone would be the great choice. For a softer feel, I could use Natural, and some of the other single colors and use them together, however, I'm not sure how well the cowl would block with a steam iron if I made the entire cowl out of Chroma. But we'll cross that Chroma bridge when we get to it, right? 

The pop of color that you need for the Winter months ahead!

A plain worsted weight yarn would do nicely with this project, but I don't recommend Chroma with a bulky yarn or anything thicker than a 4 weight. Why? Chroma from Knit Picks tend to have a different consistency throughout the skein. In some places, it's really thick and in other places, it goes all the way down to fingering weight. For this project, you would probably need another variegated yarn to create the same effect and just stay away from Chroma. I'm a huge fan of the stuff, but for those that love chunky knits, there are other variegated yarns that you could use to create the same effect. 

So, this project was incredibly fun to make. I'm not releasing  the pattern on this, but for the novice knitter, it is pretty easy to figure out or to come up with your own variation to the project, right? It's not hard to figure out and it was a lot of fun to make. Projects for this week include two long shrugs, one for my daughter, where I'm going to embroider her initials on the pocket. Someone stole her favorite uniform school sweater yesterday and she is really upset about it. I'd like to see the thief take THIS sweater from her! Especially with her name embroidered on it.

Let me know what you think of this lovely piece in the comments. Thanks!