Use up scraps of wool – knit your own cowl!

This is a special post from Katie of Je Suis Une Monstre. Do you know it? It’s a rather fine blog about arts, crafts, DIY and handmade goodies. Katie, who lives up a mountain in the French Alps, makes lots of splendid things. Je Suis Une Monstre also features endless to-do lists, musings on life in France and one woman’s mission to turn her craft habit into her full-time occupation. You can find Katie’s Etsy shop here.

Knit Your Own Chunky Diagonal Knitted Beard Cowl

Hi Miss Thrifty friends, it’s Katie from Je Suis Une Monstre.

With Spring approaching, what better way to turn over a new leaf than to clean out your yarn collection, and make some gifts for your friends to keep them snug-as-a-bug-in-a-rug? Nothing says it like handmade!

This stash-busting tutorial will put to good use all the little scraps of yarn in your basket, or balls of novelty yarn that you bought on a whim and never knew quite what to do with. The best thing is that you can whip one of these bad boys up in an afternoon, and they are so easy that even knitting beginners can get to grips with this! (If there are any knitting terms you aren’t familiar with, simply look them up on YouTube for ultimate DIY Monstre points!). If one yarn runs out, simply add another one in its place…

Introducing the Chunky Diagonal Knitted Beard Cowl.

You will need:
1 pair of 11mm needles
Selection of yarns (experiment with colours, textures, thickness, fibres)
Scissors
Tapestry needle

Instructions (see glossary at the bottom of the post):

CO 1 st.
Row 1: K1f, b&f (3 stitches)
Row 2 (and all even-number rows): Knit
Row 3 (and all odd-number rows): K1f&b, K to last stitch, K1f&b

Repeat rows 2 and 3 until you have 33 stitches on the needle.

Row 4: Knit
Row 5: K1f&b, K to last 2 stitches, K2tog

Repeat rows 4 and 5 until the piece measures 54cm on the longest edge.

Row 8: Knit
Row 9: K2tog, K to last two stitches, K2tog

Repeat rows 8 and 9 until you have 3 stitches left.

Row 10: Knit
Row 11: K3tog

Bind Off.

Sew seam edges together, and weave in all ends. Ta-da!

You could even add some embellishments, like these cute recycled skateboard buttons by Sevenply:

Make do and make!

Glossary
K = Knit.
K1f, b&f = Knit 1 front, back and front (to increase by 2 stitches).
K1 b&f = Knit 1 front and back (to increase by 1 stitch). Video here.
K2tog = Knit 2 stitches together (to decrease by 1 stitch). Video here.

Je Suis Une Monstre