About this time every year, I generally get bored of all my existing cowls (I know, hard to believe!) and feel the urge to knit a new cowl. It is still deep winter here in Canada, so mixing up the winter accessories helps make it seem like spring is not so far away. Plus, a petal-coloured yarn makes it seem even closer.

This is the Casu Cowl in progress, and I’m enjoying every stitch. The pattern repeats are easy to memorize, and I love that half the cowl is moss stitch and the other half is mesh – what a great idea for a cowl pattern, having two different types of fabric and stitches on each half of the cowl (sounds like a great future modification idea, don’t you think?).

The Thanks card is a favourite from a while back, and I kept it because it reminds me that a) I actually do like pastels, and b) look at all the other great colours that easily go with it! Colour inspiration can be found anywhere.

I feel like this is a great pairing of yarn and pattern- the subtle variations enhance the stitches rather than compete with it, and single ply yarns (which can easily get pill-y quickly) resist pilling when knit up in a highly textured stitch.

The yarn is from  Darn Good Yarn, in the Samabyon colourway of their single ply worsted weight merino wool. I loved the watercolour elements of this yarn, with pale creamy shades of peach, pink, and buttercup melding into each other in a really dreamy way. I hardly ever choose pastel colours, but I wanted to try something a little different – what if I end up loving pastels?! I’ll never know if I don’t try. Breaking out of the colour rut we crafters tend to get into can be challenging – I can’t even begin to describe how much grey and green yarn I have in my stash. But this one just called to me.

Darn Good Yarn works with local women in Nepal and India to pay a living wage to help support their families while working from home.  The ability to work from home means that many of these women can work while caring for their children, and there are few opportunities for women to work from home in many of those areas. Darn Good Yarn’s products help families eat better, have proper medical care, and send their children to school.  There is something incredibly wonderful about supporting craft businesses that are working to make the world a better place.

And on top of all that, this worsted weight merino is so buttery soft, I wish you could reach through the screen and squish it. I mean, just look at it:

This is part one of a two part sponsored post series by Darn Good Yarn. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.