Daisy Cowl

I just can’t help myself; I’m drawn to the cute simplicity of daisies, they’re so innocent and remind me of being a little girl. If they were people I imagine they would always be wearing summer dresses, happy to just be in your company even if it’s in complete silence. When you visited their house they would have the perfect knack for making you feel completely at home but at the same time a much treasured guest. They would be the friendliest people possible, and the best kind of friend, genuine.

So, when I found this pattern I knew I had to make something with it. A blanket was far too ambitious and even a cushion intimidated me as I knew that the impact of the finished article relied on each square being exactly the same size, so I settled on a scarf. A cowl to be precise, though not for any other reason than the fact that I had a very limited amount of yarn to use, and I didn’t think it’d stretch to a whole scarf. You see a little while ago I set off on a mission to find the PERFCT yarn (I’ll tell you more about it when I have actually finished my very geeky testing process) and inevitably I have been left with odd balls of this and that to try and use up. Granny squares seem to have been invented for this very purpose.

The background yarn is Rico Essentials Merino DK, and the daisy centre is Drops Merino Extra Fine. The intention was to try not to buy anything, just to try and use stuff up, but I had no white yarn, so I got to try out another type in the process; I purchased a Wendy Merino DK.

The pattern is really very simple but deceptively greedy. It is made of two rounds of popcorn stitch which adds beautiful depth and texture but gobbles up balls of yarn like no-bodies business. I had to buy a second ball of the background colour, and I don’t know whether it was my fault, but the tension of the resulting squares was very different. See, I knew I couldn’t trust myself!

I originally made 14 squares, but only needed 12 of them, which turned out kind of handy as I ended up having to unravel most of one of them in order to get enough yarn to finish stitching them together…not the most enjoyable way to finish up a project. Anyway, I eventually got it done and used the yellow to do a simple picot edging.

It’s far from perfect but I’m actually pretty happy with the way it turned out. The true test will be when I get to wear it; I’m hoping that Merino wool is toasty warm!

For those of you who want to know, here’s a mini-review on the yarn;

Rico Essentials I found really easy to work with, it didn’t split or snag and although a teeny bit stretchy it was lovely to use if you paid attention.

Sadly, Drops Merino Extra Fine was not so easy to use. It was terribly splitty and despite having what I would consider a smooth hook, it constantly snagged and pulled. The centres of the daisies were therefore very difficult to get right. I think if you were using it for very simple things, like stripes on a blanket, it might be okay but working a tiny circle was NOT fun. Perhaps a bigger hook (I used a 4.5) and deliberately working loosely would help? I have most of the ball left to use up so we’ll see.

Wendy Merino DK was beautiful to use, it ran along the hook really smoothly and worked up just yummy. I would definitely use this again if I wanted to make something out of wool.

So there you have it, my daisy cowl all squishy and new! Maybe you will make something out of this granny square yourself? Do show and tell if you do :)

See you soon,

Hayley

xx