Cornflower Cowl: A Dreamy New Crochet Pattern

Drumroll please! ... I'm here today to announce another crochet pattern release; my Cornflower Cowl. If you've been following me for some time, you'll recognise this beautiful cowl as part of my Winter Coorie Collection, but due to popular demand, I've decided to offer it as a standalone pattern! Yay!

 

You can indulge in the luxury of this lacy cowl, inspired by the delicate beauty of cornflowers, this dreamy piece is a delight to crochet and to wear. The Cornflower Cowl is a mindful crochet project with a meditative chain stitch and cluster pattern. The finished cowl has a light, airy feel that will keep you cosy in style.

 

This intermediate-level pattern is written in both UK and US terms. While there aren't any video tutorials, the pattern does include a schematic and a stitch chart for easy reference.

 

Pattern details:

• Requires 3x 50g balls of King Cole baby alpaca DK - my sample used the colourway Damson (this is such a soft baby alpaca yarn)
• You'll need a 5.5mm crochet hook (a bigger hook than you'd usually use for this thickness of yarn) and a tapestry needle for sewing in ends
• Worked in the round
• Available on my website and in my Ravelry store

 

As usual, I'm offering an early bird discount code: there's 25% off the pattern with the code CORNFLOWER Fancy 50% off future early bird releases (of course you do!), simply subscribe to my mailing list here.

 

I hope you'll love this cowl pattern as much as I do! Until next time, happy crocheting,

Marta xx

Yarn Substitutes for my Gorse Cowl Pattern

Hello! Thank you so much for the positive response to my latest crochet pattern release - Gorse Cowl! Everything from your likes and comments on social media through to the pattern sales really do boost my small business and encourage me to keep doing what I'm doing, THANK YOU!

Also, I had a flurry of replies to my last post from folks in New Zealand telling me about how gorse is a real pest in that country. Sorry, I had no idea! 

You can find my Gorse Cowl pattern on my website here and on Ravelry here.

In this blog post I'd like to chat about the yarn I chose for this cowl and some possible substitutes for you if you want to use something different.

I bought the yarn for the project one snowy April day in Edinburgh. I'd gone through to Edinburgh for the day with my youngest son and I had my first pay packet from a new job so we visited Jenner's Department Store. There was a good selection of Di Gilpin Lalland in the store - it was the first time I'd come across it and I instantly fell in love with its lambswool softness!

I appreciate that you might not be able to get your hands on the Di Gilpin Lalland or it may simply be out of your budget, so here are a few ideas I have for substituting the yarn because it isn't listed on yarnsub.com.

Biches & Bȗches - Le Lambswool (100% wool). It's slightly thinner than the Lalland at 170m/ 50g but the feel of the yarn is similar.

Simply Shetland Lambswool & Cashmere (88% Shetland Wool/ 12% Cashmere). This yarn has a similar twist to the Lalland and is almost spot on for meterage.

West Yorkshire Spinners Pure DK (100% wool). Lovely and soft with a beautiful twist. Slightly thicker than the Lalland (112m/50g)

King Cole Merino Blend DK (100% wool). An excellent budget yarn which I've used many times in my designs. It is a bit thicker at 104m/ 50g.

Stashbust! This project could potentially be crocheted in most DK weight yarns. Why not pull together a collection of different coloured yarns with the same yarn base? Or you could even make a completely scrappy version - remember all your ends will be hidden inside! Yay!

If you'd like to read more on the topic of yarn substitution, check out this blog post of mine!

 

I hope this has given you some yarn inspiration for the Gorse Cowl, happy crocheting,

Marta xx

Crochet Pattern Release: Gorse Cowl

Hello! It's a crochet cowl pattern release day! I went out one beautiful afternoon last week (that's me modelling the cowl for those of you who don't know me!) with my eldest and their fancy-pants camera and we shot some brilliant photos! The subject was a crochet pattern called Gorse Cowl which I always wanted to have photographed in front of gorse bushes in their prime and every year I seemed to miss the moment - until now!!

I wish you could've been with us that day in the sunshine, surrounded by the heady aroma of gorse - it was truly wonderful. The dog came with us, so did my youngest and my eldest's fiance and we all tried to describe what the smell was like - coconut and freshly baked cake we decided. However, my eldest is one of those people who can't smell gorse. Apparently it's a thing, some people simply can not smell it. Such a shame, they're really missing out. Can you smell it?

So, it may be a bit of an out of the blue announcement for you this week, as I wrote the Gorse Cowl pattern, had it tech edited and tested back in 2019 but didn't ever get the photos taken to launch it! Crazy, huh?

Let me tell you a bit about the pattern: 

It's a möbius cowl with a unique crocheted-in-the-round design hiding all your pesky ends, so you can express yourself with yarn without the hassle of sewing in all of those ends. 

 

I designed it in Di Gilpin Lalland, which is DK weight 100% scottish lambswool. It's a gorgeous yarn to work with and comes in so many rich, earthy tones including the yellow I chose. It made me think of the gorse bushes I see flowering so abundantly at this time of year, and so the cowl got its name!

The pattern is rated as intermediate and is written in UK terms. There's a video tutorial showing you how to work the main pattern, which is a really straightforward, mindful pattern once you get going.

 

To crochet your Gorse Cowl, you will need: 

Di Gilpin Lalland, 50g balls (100% scottish lambswool, an 8ply/DK weight yarn, 175m/50g)  

• 1x Beechnut - Colour A
• 1x Ruby Red - Colour B
• 1x Coille - Colour C
• 1x Furze - Colour D

5.5mm crochet hook (or appropriate hook to achieve gauge)

Plus a large needle for sewing in your 2 final ends, stitch marker keep track of rounds and scissors.

You can find the pattern on my website here and on Ravelry here.

I'll have more information about the yarn and possible substitutes in my next blog post. If you have any questions in the meantime, please ask! 

Until then, happy crocheting!

Marta xx