I knit cowls for both girls this Christmas.

Leah’s is knit from the pattern Cabernet Infinity Scarf by Monika Sirna, in the DK weight cowl version.  I had a skein of the gorgeous Madelinetosh Tosh Merino DK in Candlewick left over from Leah’s Peloponnese sweater.  I ordered an extra two skeins to make this cowl, as per the yardage instructions, but only used two skeins in all (thus leaving me with one skein for…moi!).

I knit this with a US size 5, which gave it a pretty tight knit.  I imagine that most people would knit it to a bigger gauge, but I liked this look better.  I then blocked it heavily.  It was 7″x36″ pre-block, and I blocked it out to 8″x46″.  Once blocked, the cowl is light and airy, and very soft.  The cables and lace are crisp and clear in this yarn.

I have wanted to make this cowl for a long time. It is really a striking pattern, particularly in this rich golden hue. It is a bit of a fiddly knit, but is worth the extra effort.   It was clearly a big hit with Leah.  It goes beautifully with her Peloponnese sweater, but also looks good with many other colours.  Leah wears a lot of reds, burgundys, and purples and the gold really shines.

Emma’s cowl uses the Lowbrow Cowl pattern by Thao Nguyen.  I had two skeins of the lovely Madelinetosh Tosh Merino DK in Venetian left over from Emma’s gorgeous sweater, Venetian Audrey.   I knit this one with a US size 6 needle, and also knit an extra pattern repeat to give the cowl more width; blocked, it measures 8.5″x48″.  I had almost half a skein left over.

Unfortunately, Emma’s Audrey is across the ocean and couldn’t get in on this photo shoot, but I think they will work well together.  On my Ravelry page, I have named these two the Golden Cowl and the Ruby Cowl, because of the beautiful jewel tones.

The weather here has been lovely this Christmas; cold but very sunny.  We have gone for many long walks through the countryside.  The winter sun gives beautiful light.  This, of course, gives many opportunities for photo shoots.

My family are surprisingly good at indulging me and this blog.  Yesterday, Doug and the girls went into London for the day.   They dutifully took many cowl photos in the British Museum.  Here they are standing in front of the Bronze Gates of Balawat (fragments and replicas of the huge bronze gates of Shalmaneser III (858-824 BC) from Balawat).

Incidentally, Doug was also wearing a hand-knit cowl.  I knit this one a few years ago for myself but it looks better on Doug so its his now. (Its just Malabrigo Worsted held double knit in seed stitch).

Happy New Year to all of you from all of us.  I am heading off now to drink home-made eggnog and watch Dinner for One (if you don’t know, ask a German!).

Edited to correct yarn used for Lowbrow cowl.