Initial Thoughts:

• So I started making this project with a yarn that has the exact same yardage as the recommended yarn. The fabric is way too tight on a US4 - and I’m not a tight knitter. As of completion of the first buttonhole, I switched to a US5. It’s still tight but I don’t think that going up another needle size - based on what I don’t know of this pattern - is a smart idea. I might re-cast on and bind off with the US4 (to keep things firm at the edges) but can’t tell yet. Update: I ended up switching to a US6…

• Note that I didn’t swatch because I don’t swatch for cowls and shawls. I’m ok with a bit of size variance as long as I like the fabric.

• The ingenuity of this pattern is that the doubleknitting row gauge matches the brioche row gauge. And both techniques require working 2 rows to get one row. That’s why you don’t have to knit on 2 different sized needles.

• About the Yarn: So, having worked with a few diff brands of yarn that use this particular fibre (mérinos d’Arles), I’ve come to understand that it’s really not for me. IMO - it’s way too springy (which gives it great stitch definition and structure) to the extent that it’s hard to tension. It’s also very sticky (which makes it hard to work with without hurting my hands and threatening calluses). It’s also way too thick for my pref. Moreover, there were 3 knots in the first ball, too many for commercial yarn, and I’ve found mutliple strings of plastic actually spun into the yarn?!?! Given how natural this is supposed to be, I don’t know how this has happened. One other thing - the recommended yarn, which I’ve worked with before and which I HATE - is the KFO merino in worsted weight. I wonder if that’s Arles wool as well though it does feel entirely different than this yarn.

• Were I to buy yarn to make this again, I’d make it a medium to robust DK in a different sort of wool. Update: Apparently I cannot shut up about how I absolutely hate working with this yarn - even on a US5, already one size larger than recommended. It’s making my hands hurt and I’m wearing orthotics and a splint?!?! I’ve opted to wet block it now just to confirm that it isn’t going to feel like cardboard in the end. If yes, I’ll either have to go off road with a US6 needle OR find some other yarn to work with. And with a postal strike less than a month from Xmas (this is a gift), and no other suitable yarn in my stash, it looks like ripping back and starting on a larger needle may be my only recourse if this doesn’t become lovely and squishy after blocking.

• OK - my gauge is 16.5st per 4” or 10% smaller in width than instructed. I am getting row gauge though. Now I need to decide if I’m going to go up yet another needle size… Update: I’m sticking with the US6. This yarn is still not easy to work with but it’s much easier than it was on the US 4, and somewhat easier than knitting on the US 5. It this changes my row gauge, I’ll just use larger buttons (though I hope that won’t be necessary…

• But on the up side, this pattern is great. So elegantly constructed. And the instructions are very clear. It is lots of fun and fairly quick. Would make a lovely gift, hence this version.

• If you have 500ish yards of yarn, like brioche and you are comfortable with double knitting and Italian CO and BO, then it’s right for you. Though I’ve used the buttonhole method 5x now, I still find working it like magic. And they look so tidy. They’re so sturdy. I’m going to find it hard to ever make a non-DK buttonband with these verticle buttonholes again.

What size to make??:

• As of the start of Increase segment 1, you have 113g of yarn remaining. That means it took 95g to get to this point - 9.5” of length. For size large (15.25” in length), you need 5.75 more inches of length but you’ll need to increase by 84st which is almost doubling the st count of the brioche segment. And brioche eats yarn.

• BUT - my preblocked gauge - even after going up 2 needle sizes - is still smaller than instructed, though I think that it might get to the instructed gauge after blocking. Note: I only blocked the piece after knitting with the US4 and US5 needles, not after starting with the size 6, which is why I don’t know…

• And then there’s one more issue that I haven’t figured out yet. If the gauge is 3.75st in 1” (which is what’s instructed), then how, at a final circ of 186st on the needles, wouldn’t there be 49.6” of circ - instead of the 45” circ indicated on the pattern page for the sizing for the large? To add to my confusion, the pattern indicates the final WIDTH, not circumference. But it would have to mean circumference because the pre-increase segment generally matches what I’ve got. I assume that PK refers to width because one buttons the piece and until then its dimensions are flat. And I do realize that the plackets will overlap once buttoned (removing 1.3” of width until the piece is unbuttoned, when the extra width will be readded to the circ/width).

• I don’t want this thing to be too large for the recipient (or too small, given that my gauge isn’t running large on this project). I also don’t want to run out of yarn - cuz I do not intend to buy more - but I don’t want 40g of it sitting in my stash forever either.

• If you’re on the fence, you have until the end of the Increase 2 segment to decide. After that point, the rates of increase change to ensure that the buttons are evenly positioned over the full length of the cowl. Update - I’m wrong about this. You have to pick a lane right away. Oh well…

• The first increase segment (16R) used 13g of yarn. (Have 100g remaining now.)

• The second increase plus buttonhole 5 (20R) used 17g of yarn. (Have 83g remaining now.)

• I note that this buttonhole is 4R (2 knit-stitches in brioche height) SHORTER than the previous buttonholes. I wonder why this is. I thought of working these 4R before starting the 5th buttonhole but the instructions provide no context and I figured that I should stick with the instructions given what I don’t yet know about this pattern…

• It would appear that the second increase row is aligned with (sits atop) the left branch of the previous increase V. It would also appear that it isn’t symmetrical over the width of the brioche segment. What I mean by this is that the increase is worked on the 12th stitch (from the buttonhole side of the placket and on the 10th stitch (from the non-buttonhole side). The first increase row was symmetrical. I assume that this will resolve over the third and fourth increase rows (because the increases move depending on the number of stitches on the needles) but I’m noting it in case someone else finds it odd too…

• Definitely pay attention to the positioning of increases in Increase row 3 because there are 2 rates used in this row. Might be the same for size large, after the first 2 increase rows / segments.

Pre-blocked Dimensions: 16” (length), by 22” (top of cowl) and 32” (base of cowl).

Post-blocked Dimensions: Blocked to instructed dimensions. That worked but I feel that a bit of the squish of brioche has been lost because a) the yarn isn’t right for the project and b) I did have to block it to size (pinned but not stretched).

Final Thoughts:

• About the Yarn: I don’t really care if this blocks to size, I will never use this yarn again and, really, I think it shouldn’t be used on a needle that’s smaller than US7. I’m pretty sure that I would have got stitch gauge on the US7 but the cowl would have been longer than instructed, even longer than the large. FWIW, I think that the recommended yarn is less dense and more ropey so it would be easier to work with.

• Next time I make this I’m using a 2-ply DK-weight with a bit of drape because, pre-blocking, this thing is too much like corrugated cardboard for my liking. Having said this, I’m pretty sure that it will soften on blocking and one does want some stability in the finished object. Update: I think I over-estimated the value of structure when it comes to this project. It did soften and block to size but I don’t like the hand. Mind you, it’s not for me and my husband seems to like it just fine… Prob because his hands weren’t tortured by the yarn :-)

• This is a very well-constructed object and it’s among the better written PK patterns I’ve worked from, but I think that more information to explain the increases is warranted so that people can more easily make adjustments. I do hate how this designer tries to keep everything in the vault.

• I have 36g of my 200g remaining. I don’t think that I could have made the large with 200g of this yarn but then I did have to go up 2 needle sizes…

• This is as small as I’d want to make it for a guy and my husband is not particularly broad or tall. I sense that the large will be quite wide in the shoulders. I wish that there were a size in between small and large.