I swear I did brush her hair a few minutes earlier, i don’t know what happened. 

My great and tremendous love of cowls meant that it was really just a matter of time before I decided to make one for Lila. I found this mystery skein in my stash (you can see it in a photo from this post back in 2011, but you can’t see the tag…. it feels like a merino/silk/maybe alpaca blend), and it was just right for a super quick toddler cowl. I wasn’t actually sure if she would wear it, so I wanted it to be a really fast knit. Who wants to spend weeks on a knit that might never get worn? But lucky me- that totally didn’t happen. She actually likes it! She doesn’t wear it like this normally- it’s worn with her winter coat, to help keep her little neck cozy. But I caught her in an unusually cooperative mood.

Remember the goat? As featured in this post. 

Pattern: Honey Cowl 

Needles: 6.5 mm circulars (US 10.5)

Mods: To make the toddler size, I cast on for 52 stitches, knit 3 rounds of ribbing, then followed the stitch pattern. Details can be found on the Ravelry project page, here. Here’s a shot that is a bit boring, but at least you can see how it looks flat. She’s been wearing it every day for a couple weeks now, so the  yarn is getting a little fuzzy with wear.

This was the quickest knit ever! After one evening of a bit of a false start, I adjusted my stitch count, and knit the whole thing in a few hours. And to complete this knitting miracle, I said to her, “Stand here by these plants, and let mama take your picture!” And holy miracles, she actually did it! She stood where I told her to and let me take her photo! Here’s where I said, “Smile, sweetie!”

Ah, forced toddler smiles.