I can’t even remember how I got there, but once I was (online) strolling through Four Purls yarn shop I saw Anzula yarn on sale! Regular price, on average is $35 per skein, and I bought these three skeins for $24.15 each.
I believe I was searching for washable worsted yarn. Whatever, I snatched up these pretty colors: L-R, Temperance, Terra Cotta, and Seaside. I don’t have any project planned, but soon. Probably a hat or three.
Anzula on sale – couldn’t resist!
Four Purls also sells my favorite cotton yarn for making dishcloths. So I added more tropical colors to my stash. I’m making little cloths to give away at Christmas. Except for people who use sponges in the kitchen (yukko) they will be appreciated. See more colors in The Sassy Skein at Four Purls.
I needed new cotton yarn
Both types of yarn are favorites of mine. I first used a bit of Anzula for the Quince Wrap and fell in love. As is true for most nice yarn, it is pricey. I feel lucky to find a sale, and the yarn is really hard to find online these days, and colors are very limited. It may be due to Covid, I don’t know.
Four Purls offers free shipping on orders over $49 and the shop is close to me here in Florida so the package arrives in no time.
A review of knitting the Namu Cowl with some easy cables in pretty “Root Beer” yarn color way by Annual.
The NAMU cable cowl is such a lovely pattern, and yes folks, it’s FREE! The directions are well-written, and there is also a chart. Designer Knitboop has graciously given the knitting world this interesting project, which can be knit up quite quickly.
Namu is Korean for “tree” and Knitboop goes on to include more info and even a poem on the last page of the download.
The short version of the cowl is small and will fit snuggly around the neck, but it can be knit longer with the correct pattern repeats. I chose to use my new skeins of Anzula For Better or Worsted yarn in “Rootbeer” (Find Anzula yarn at Jimmy Beans or Webs). Choose a soft yarn for this type of garment which will be close to the skin.
The pattern is easy to follow, but a beginner may find it difficult. You must cable and know how to do Yarn Overs with knits and purls.
After knitting the ribbing I noticed some pooling of color, which is difficult to see in my photo below, so I began alternating skeins for the cables. I may use one skein for the next repeat of the pattern just to see how it looks.
Pooling of colors
I snapped this photo below once I finished the first cable repeat of 23 rows. I will do these rows once more to finish the cowl, so I’m halfway there!
The “Namu” cowl pattern.
I wanted to mention the pooling of color, which you can see once again as I dropped one ball of yarn to finish off the top portion of the cowl. There was some striping there as compared to the center cable portion of the cowl.
Now about the bind off. It calls for a stretchy bind off which makes sense because it will be pulled over your head. I began with Jeny’s stretchy bind off and it was looking too floppy. So I did regular bind off stitches between Jeny’s. Jeny’s is basically done by adding a yarn-over making 2 stitches to bind off. I used it on the Polliwog Popover for the first time. It still ended up being too wide but wearing that top bind off at the bottom of the cowl – around the neck / shoulder area works well.
I’m actually wearing the cowl upside down, but it really doesn’t matter with this pattern.
Finished!
Anzula and Other Soft Cowl Yarn Ideas
I used Anzula, but there are other soft yarns to consider when cowl knitting. Here are a few I have used or have researched for softness. Some can be machine washed, but why would you? Cowls are small, and can easily be hand-washed and dried flat.
For such a pretty cable pattern, use a slightly variegated yarn, solid color or ombre color yarn. Too many color variations would take away from the cabling. Also a lighter color will help show off the pattern.
Yardage needed is 220 yards in Worsted Weight yarn. You will need more if you make the longer version.
Madeline Tosh “Vintage” – this link goes to Wool and Company, who ships for free (US only) and will wind skeins at no charge!
The Anzula is so soft and I love this golden-bronze color. I fell in love with Anzula yarn when I knit the Quince Wrap and used gray Anzula (fingering weight) for the edges. I bought it on a whim when the Four Purls yarn truck came to town. Anzula offers a wide array of yarn types.
New England's Narrow Road 