This cowl is so perfect for summer in so many ways. The colour, the lace…. I bet you don’t think about cowls for the summer, but summers still have some chilly nights (and days, who am I kidding?) here in Toronto.

Pattern: Starshower by Hilary Smith Callis 

Yarn: The Blue Brick Rose Ombre 

Mods: None.

Project page on Ravelry can be found here.

I love my Golden Rose cowl. This pattern had been in my queue for a while, not only because I love how it looked but because the construction looked far more interesting than a typical cowl. The design didn’t disappoint- it begins with a shawl-like construction, and then is joined to work in the round. the result give that great slouchy front, and shaping that sits perfectly around the neck or on your shoulders without having to keep pulling on it or moving the fabric around. It’s like you get to put it on and forget about it.

Haha, as if you could forget you were wearing something as wonderful as this. The lace can be repetitive, but using a gorgeous ombre like this was so much fun- the colour shifts are so beuatiful. The ‘Rose’ colourway from The Blue Brick is a wonderfully sunny gradient, you can see the roses that inspired it in the photo with the yarn. What I especially love about this colourway is that even if you think you can’t wear yellow, it still works- an ombre that has yellow in it but isn’t right near your face is flattering for a lot of people. If you like yellow but think it doesn’t look good on you, this is a good colourway to wear.

I especially like choosing something a bit brighter to wear in the summer, something with a little more colour to it. This fit my goals perfectly! As for the photos, a couple of things were very clear to me after seeing them- 1. I need a haircut so badly, I can’t even remember exactly when I last cut my hair- September? October? Yikes. 2. I wish I had put on some lipstick for this. I know not everyone likes make up, and to be honest I rarely wear lipstick, but I feel that I could have used a little pop of colour. But hey, the cowl adds lots of colour, too!

Oh man, have I got loads of outtakes for this! We took waaay more photos for this than we normally do, mainly due to trying to do the photo with the kids while on Toronto Island, which is a place that I adore but was so sunny and bright it was very difficult to find shady spots for photos. And Lila was very involved! An outtakes post will follow later this week.