In which I finally post that update about the cowl...

For the cowl I started last week I am using the Convertable Cowl pattern from The Crimson Owl. It's pretty easy, except I had to make mine a bit bigger - like 70 to 80 stitches long instead of 55 - and I keep loosing track of how many stitches I've done (and that's even with using the County app I found on the android market) However, the cowl is staying the same basic shape as I progress, so I must not be that far off from the original stitch count.

My only complaint about the pattern is that she says to chain two before doing a row of double crochet, and to chain 1 before doing a row of half double crochet - per what my Mom taught me, and the handy dandy little Red Heart 'Teach Yourself Crochet' guide I bought when I decided to pick up crocheting again, you are supposed to chain three before starting a row of double crochet and chain 2 before doing a row of half double crochet. As a result the first stitch in those rows looks wonky, and it's a bit tight when you're trying to join the rounds together.

I'm using Lion Brand Homespun in Noveau - it's a pain in the butt to crochet with because it's so fluffy that the stitches will occasionally blend in with each other, but it has such amazing colors in it; brown fades into a turquoise blue, which fades into a purple color, which fades into a green. The pictures don't do it justice.