Decibella has vertical stripes which look like stocking stitch, so I cast on and did 4 row stripes, in stocking stitch, but, once again, it didn't look right. I decided that this particular yarn would only really shine as stripes, if done as garter stitch.
I think I was right. Garter stitch makes the colour changes in the brightly coloured yarn really zing. I cast on 20 sts provisionally, using 10mm needles. Each row is knit and the yarn is changed every 2 rows, carrying the yarn up the side. I alternated the two brightly coloured skeins with the beige skein in between each change. The two brightly coloured yarns have enough splashes of colour in common to tie them together, but still give a difference. I think the colours of the stripes worked really work together, with the beige making the brighter hues really pop.
The yarn carried up the edges doesn't really show that badly. If it did, I would have picked up the stitches all the way round the cowl and knit a border in a contrasting yarn, but it is fine. It think it is neat because the yarn is 100% wool, so everything sticks together.
I knit these stripes until I started to run out of yarn. I finished the last stripe so it lined up to alternate corectly with the provisional cast on. I then picked up the stitches held provisionally and performed a three needle bind, off using the provisional stitches and the live ones. I did the bind off with the wrong side facing, continuing with the teal yarn that I had just used to do two rows.
It does look a bit clunky from the wrong side, but from the right side it looks like this:
The box shows the three needle bind off from the right side. It is almost invisible. The resulting cowl is 9" wide and has a 30" drop.
I haven't really worn it like this, so far. I tend to double it over and wear it up around my neck.
It is easy to arrange it so it comes right up around your ears and keeps you cozy in a cold wind. If it gets really cold you can draw it right up around your head, because it is broad enough to not leave a big gap at the back, the way some cowls would.
This cowl may not be Decibella, but it completely fits into the gap I wanted that pattern to fulfill, and it used up yarn that was held in un-loved projects. I love it when a plan comes together, even if it takes a couple of detours along the way! I just wish I had thought of this project at the start of Winter.
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