Mind the Cowl

Over the years I have made mention of the default mode network and its connection to mindfulness, and I have even designed a shawl called Switching Modes that is meant to promote the development of mindfulness. Recently Oogyknitter has encouraged me, partly from her own high-gear production of beautiful work, to make cowls. So, I modified Switching Modes to make a cowl and have been pleased with the results. 

Cowl version of Switching Modes, here worked with Harrisville Designs "Nightshade" and some hand dyed sock yarn.  

However, the experience of making these cowls has made clear to me that the original shawl pattern has an important feature that the cowl lacks. The shawl pattern begins with very short rows of plain knitting that get progressively longer.  Then there are the intermittent colorful ridges, which are meant to foster a period of mindfulness in what would otherwise be a somewhat easy and mindless process.  As the shawl gains stitches, each of the Mindful Rows takes longer to complete, giving the knitter an opportunity to gradually build a larger capacity to be mindful. 

The cowl, however, does not have this gradual quality; every row has the same number of stitches and the poor knitter is suddenly thrown into the challenge of several MINUTES of mindfulness at a time.  As someone who finds the effort to stay mindful very challenging, this difference has made a big impact on how much I enjoy making the cowl as opposed to the shawl. 

The cowl is worked on the bias to replicate the diagonal effect in the shawl.

So, in an effort to make the long periods of mindfulness bearable, I have acquired a gorgeous skein of Malabrigo Mechita in Arco Iris.  It is helpful to use the frequent changes in color to stay (literally) focused on the long rows. 

What is more appealing than a cake of Malabrigo Mechita?

Another difference between the shawl and cowl that I noticed is that the cowl needs to be made with very soft yarn that feels good right against one’s neck and chin. For the first cowl I used Harrisville Designs Nightshade, which is surprisingly soft and feels very comfortable.  For the cowl I just finished, I used Valley Yarns Mount Holyoke, which is a tweedy yarn that is 100% cashmere and, as you might expect, feels SO NICE. It would seem that this yarn is discontinued, unfortunately.  This version of the cowl has only 60 stitches/row, but staying mindful remained a challenge. 

This smaller version of the cowl, which doubles as a hat, came together very quickly. Now I will work on posting an update to the Switching Modes pattern.