Oh, I love everything about this finished project!
Just off the needles, the stitches were a little burbly, and the ribbing at top and bottom were a bit flared.
A little bath with Soak woolwash, and a pat out, and everything is much smoother.
I’ll wear it like this, because I want the flower to show under my chin; the side motifs will scrunch down a bit. Better than centering the side motif, and losing the flowers!
I’m really pleased with the colors. I had the Granite, Lipstick, White, and Lupin as leftovers from last year’s Bonnie Isle hat. The black (Mirry Dancer) and oatmeal (Eesit/White) are new. I love how the Eesit/White warms the palette up a bit. Very subtle, but it’s there.
Mods: Many! This is from the Shetland Wool Week Buggiflooer Beanie pattern. I reduced the stitch count based on my usual gauge on US 3 needles with Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift. I used 136 stitches so I could use 4 repeats of the flower chart. I shortened the ribbing by 3 rounds, because I wanted more flower than ribbing. My cowl measures 20” x 6.75” inches, blocked. It grew taller by half an inch with blocking, but the width did not change.
Now that I have this finished, I might knit a hat, on exactly this many stitches. It fits my head as well as it fits my neck. It’s a giant gauge swatch! We’ll see if I have some spare time.
Join my class on Sunday if you’d like me to walk you through the ins and outs of stranded colorwork! Register here.
PDXKnitterati 
That is BEAUTIFUL, Michele !! – I declare I’m more impressed by that lovely piece of colourwork knitting than by .. by .. well, just about anything else ! It’s a knockout ! And with matching hat you will also be one. Note: waiting to see the combo .. 😀
What a gorgeous cowl, well done! Nice that you could use a few scraps as well, and interesting to know that blocking didn’t give you extra width but did straighten things out nicely all the same.
Thank you! You just never know which way it will grow, unt