I had a couple of false starts on this cowl. I tried to do the cabling without a cable needle, as described, but had a difficult time. The stitches I took off the needle kept falling apart. I finally ended up using a cable needle. The cowl took two only evenings, or a few hours’ work, to complete. I’m not sure that my cabling looks 100% like the photo, but I’m happy with the way it came out. I liked the soft, chunky yarn. Some of the color did rub off on my hands while I was knitting. However, after I washed the cowl for blocking, the water did run clear. I was mystified reading some of the user questions. Seemed a lot of people did not bother to read the instructions to download and print the pattern as well as follow the tutorial! I found the instructions clear and easy to follow.