This chunky knit cabled cowl is the perfect quick, one skein project. With a cabled band between a boarder of seed stitch, this cowl is as fun to knit as it is fun to wear. Chunky cables make it easy to wear with any coat; under your heavy winter coat or over a light spring jacket.

Chunky Cabled Cowl

Cozy and Warm

Finished Sizes One size, roughly 8″ wide and 20″ long.

Yarn One skein Lion Brand Thick and Quick Chunky.

Needles Size 15 (10 mm) needles.

Notions Removable markers (m), cable needle, tapestry needle.

GAUGE

Not necessary; no fit necessary.

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Ravelry Project Page

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This is a pattern that has been around for a long time. It was one of the first patterns I designed! It’s been knit and loved by many of my students and the Cabled Cowl Class has been a staple in my schedules for years.

It’s so quick and so simple and so great for beginners that it’s comes back again and again. It makes a great gift. It’s a great intro to cables. It’s FAST.

Seed Stitch and Cables

It’s also a great project for a skein of bulky or heavy worsted handspun. If you’ve got one skein of handspun that you don’t know what to do with, this project is for you.

Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick & Quick

Otherwise just stick to the Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick & Quick. There are TONS of colors, so you can knit everyone you know a different color!

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Ravelry Pattern Page

Related Sweatshop Love:

• December 3, 2009 -- Custom Knit Holiday Present Giveaway!
• August 24, 2009 -- A Crazed Lunatic

As of this moment I’ve got four tiny gifts to make to complete my holiday knitting. We are talking one weekend’s worth of knitting time. And it’s December 3rd! Holiday knitting success!

Based on the emails and texts, facebook and twitter comments I’ve been getting, not everyone is as close to being finished as I am. So what better way to ease some holiday stress than helping you check someone off your to-knit-for list?

I’m giving away custom knit gifts!

Win this giveaway and you will win the chance to pick a project from one of my patterns and the yarn color of your choice. I will knit it up and mail it to your mom/uncle/wife/best friend/step dad by December 18th! Plenty of time to get to your loved one before Christmas.

Your Hand Knit Present Choices Are:

Cabled Cowl

Cabled Change Purse

Slouchy Beret

Eric Man-Beanie or Eric Man-Stocking Cap

Even better? I’m giving away TWO custom made gifts! So you have two chances to win!

To enter: Leave a comment on this post about which gift you would choose and who the hand knit would be for. Extra points for following me on twitter if you don’t already and tweeting this giveaway and becoming a fan of The Sweatshop of Love on facebook if you aren’t already and saying hi on our wall.

You have until Sunday, December 6th to enter! I will contact the winners Monday to get any final instructions before I get materials and get knitting.

The Sweatshop of Love is here to ease some holiday stress! And I can’t wait to read your responses.

Related Sweatshop Love:

• December 23, 2009 -- A Holiday Knitting Season in Review
• December 18, 2009 -- Holiday Knitting is Officially OVER!
• December 15, 2009 -- Burn!
• November 9, 2009 -- Weekend: Productive and Fatty!

My to do list this weekend:

1. Make entire fall schedule – check! It rocks, if I do say so myself.

2. Knit a cabled cowl – check!

LOVE!

Pretty Cables

I used some of the Lion Brand Fishermen’s Wool that will be left over from the Vogue Cropped Jacket I put on hold all weekend though I’m SO close to being done with it!

I love this cowl, and it knit up with size 15s in like 4 hours.

3. Knit a Turkey Finger Puppet – check!

Holy Cute

I wanted to put some kind of toy in the fall schedule, so I was searching around when I stumbled upon a really cute knitting blog called Team Knit, and this pattern for a turkey finger puppet. I instantly fell in love and knit it up and put it together in about 3 hours. The time consuming part is the tail. But EVERYONE should sign up for this class because not only is this little guy adorable but the class is free! November 11th, 7-9pm. Happy Thanksgiving from me to you.

4. Write fall schedule newsletter – check! Mostly written while knitting, which is a trick I’ve needed to teach myself that comes in handy almost every day.

5. Update website – check! Full list of classes looking hot. More Sweatshop love looking hot, too. The class list was a huge job since it was so empty this month.

6. Knit a Goldfish Toilet Lid Cover – not check.

Saturday Morning

Friday afternoon I thought it would be a great idea to put the Knit Pick’s Goldfish Toilet Lid Cover in my fall class schedule, meaning, ideally, I would need to knit one before my newsletter went out to make sure the pattern was good and I had a picture of it. Yeah. I’m a crazy person.

The problem was that the pattern calls for size 6s and DK weight yarn. I had size 4s and worsted weight, but that still didn’t do it, so I had to take 25 stitches off the pattern, basically rewriting the entire thing.

PT and Po' Boy

My Shrimp Po' Boy

By Sunday evening, after spending 11 hours knitting and writing frantically, PT suggested I leave the house. We walked over to Street Side and got po’ boys and fries. We were both very happy with how delicious they were! It was my first po’ boy and I would order this sandwich again in a heartbeat.

Toilet Lid In Lap

By Sunday night I had finished knitting the lid itself and just needed to duplicate stitch on the fish. When I looked at the picture of the lid on the pattern I thought it was intarsia; I had never even heard of duplicate stitching. It’s basically cross-stitching over the stitches of the body of your project, which is genius I think, since I get annoyed with a lot of intarsia. I’ve always loved cross stitch so this has been really fun.

But, notice a problem?

Don't Look Like No Fish!

I had that big orange skein of yarn I got at a garage sale I thought would be fun to use, and I started duplicate stitching the fish in whatever colors I had laying around in the goldfish family. PT says it looks like Pikachu. I think it kind of looks like Wilson. Whatever it looks like, it doesn’t look like a goldfish. It’s still going on my toilet, though!

I’m almost finished, not by deadline obviously, but still. Knitting an entire toilet lid with Pikachu/Wilson/Goldfish duplicate stitching in like 72 hours? Still impressive/ridiculous.

7. Blog – absolutely not. Lukily for me PT was free for some guest blogging so I got out of that one. He did such a great job! He also made sure I ate and drank enough water and that my legs didn’t atrophy all weekend, too.

8. Update Ravelry – absolutely not. I didn’t even look at it.

9. Update Sweatshop Facebook Page and Myspace Page – check! I don’t remember doing it, but it’s done so I’m not asking any questions.

Overall pretty good! I love being mostly self employed because if I worked for anyone else as much as I work for myself for as little as I make I would kill someone. But because everything I do is for myself I get up at 6:30 on a Sunday morning to knit a toilet seat cover and when I finally close my computer at 11pm Sunday night I’m so tired I could cry, but I’m happy because I love it.

Cotton Washcloths

Next up? Minnesota! PT and I are headed there Thursday, and I’m knitting up these cute washcloths from Purl Bee  as a present to PT’s mom. At least I’ve got a couple days to punch two of these out.  It should be a breeze after the knitting fiasco that was this weekend.

I’m determind to finish my toilet seat cover, though, and I miss my Vogue Cropped Jacket!

Man, I’ve caught fall knitting fever way early this season. Could that mean I will successfully knit everyone I know a present this year?

Only if I can keep my new issue of Interweave Knits closed!

Related Sweatshop Love:

• May 27, 2011 -- Renegade Brooklyn Prep, Part 5: SEWING
• May 10, 2011 -- ME?! In Interweave Knits?!
• February 15, 2011 -- Chunky Cabled Cowl Pattern
• January 19, 2011 -- FO: Charvet Pullover