A Simple Seed Stitch Cowl

I had purchased a couple of skeins of Rico Essentials Soft Merino Aran in the colour Dusty Pink with no project in mind earlier in the year. When I was looking through my stash on my birthday and deciding what to cast on with my new needles I decided to use these to make a seed stitch cowl. I didn't use a pattern for this project as it's pretty simple. I hadn't knitted seed stitch before, but it's only alternating knits and purls and I really like how seed stitch looks so thought this would be an ideal time to try it out.

This was my first project working in the round, I had knitted socks using the magic loop method before but never worked in the round. It took a little bit of getting used to but I've since worked in the round on multiple projects and find it a pleasant way to knit.

This ended up being a fun project to knit when I wanted to work on something I didn't need to focus on. I just kept knitting until it was the length I wanted as I wasn't using a pattern. To bind off I tried out a method using a tapestry needle which I've seen in a couple of blog posts and some YouTube videos too, so I'm not sure who originally came up with it. The bind off is done by threading the tail of yarn still attached to your project onto a tapestry needle and then threading it through the second stitch from the end as if to knit, then through the first stitch as if to purl and slipping this off the knitting needle. It creates a bind off which looks the same as the long tail cast on, so for projects like cowls it ensures both edges look the same. I got a bit stressed out when the bind off seemed to get tangled, but in the end I think I figured it out and it turned out well. I've since used the same bind off for my honey cowl and think I will use it for future projects.

Overall I'm happy with how this cowl turned out, I think it was a successful project. If I were to knit this again I would perhaps use additional yarn to make it a bit thicker, but in all honesty I was getting a bit bored of working on it anyway and I think its final length looks fine as it is. I'm quite happy with the yarn I chose, I did have to cut out a few knots, but it was a pretty inexpensive yarn and feels nice and soft. I've found the colour is quite neutral so goes with most jackets, so I've been wearing this cowl a lot over winter.