A very finished Somewhat Cowl. I love her. Well, almost all of her. The neckline is lumpy in two spots and I’m hoping it blocks out. But without any further ado, have some pictures!

Welcome to the world Somewhat Cowl!

Somewhat Cowl

Better shot of the neckline which gave me the most trouble of the whole sweater…

Somewhat Cowl Neckline

See you when I get back folks!!

edit:

So, I figured that I might mention some of the things I changed about the Somewhat Cowl. Frankly, the pattern kind of sucks. The only size that seems to work exactly is the size that the author did for herself. Which is fine, but you ought to get all other sizes test knitted before you go out and sell something to people. If you’re going to knit this pattern, I suggest going out before you buy the pattern and read every set of pattern notes you can find from the knit-bloggers out here on the web. Seriously.

First, I knit for bust size 38" due to my gauge and that I’d read alot of problems with knitting for your size and having it turn out huge. Plus, I was knitting with 80% cotton and I was afraid of blooming. I normally wear a size 42".

I did not knit the raglan sleeve to the length suggested by the pattern, if I had, the arm hole would have been gargantuan. I shorted it to 9 inches long before I began the sleeves.

I added an extra set of waist increases and decreases because I curve in more and also because I needed the additional length because I’ve got a longer torso. It still turned out just barely long enough to suit me. Consider adding more length if you don’t want your tummy to be exposed when you lift your arms above your head.

I did not knit as far down as the pattern requested for the neckline. I didn’t want to show off my belly button and needed something more modest.

For the collar, I ignored the suggested pick up stitches amounts and simply picked up and knit stitches as evenly as I could all the way around. I like how it turned out and I picked up more stitches than suggested.

When casting on for the very beginning, Wendy asks you to do this: CO 2 (2, 2, 2, 2, 2) [front]; PM; CO 8 (9, 10, 10, 11, 11, 11) [sleeve]; PM; CO 28 (32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42) [back]; PM; CO 8 (9, 10, 10, 11, 11, 11) [sleeve]; PM; CO 2 (2, 2, 2, 2, 2) [front]

If I were to do it again, I would simply do this: CO 8 (9, 10, 10, 11, 11, 11) [sleeve]; PM; CO 28 (32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42) [back]; PM; CO 8 (9, 10, 10, 11, 11, 11) [sleeve]

I would do it this way because it removes a sort of triangular area that the original pattern has that makes the neckline sort of whumpy when you pick up stitches around it. I hope that made sense…

Finally, I ignored the neckline part of the pattern altogether. I did the 2×2 ribbing the entire way around the neckline except for the very bottom where you are knitting in the cleavage area and there I did 1×1 ribbing. I did this for 3 inches and then, continued in 2×2 all the way around. increasing by one stitch in every stitch that was 1×1 ribbing. This way, the neckline gathered up as little more tightly and then the increasing made the collar lay down flat when folded over and hid the 1×1 ribbing. I’ve then tacked the collar down in a few spots around the neck to keep it from flying up when I lean over. I did NOT fold the collar inside and tack down all the way around.

Hope this helps!!