Knit a Plaid Cowl with a Built in Pun

As long-time word nerd, there’s not a lot I like better than a pun. And what’s better than a pun in writing? A pun in knitting, because it really requires you to commit to it for as long as knitting the thing takes.

If you think that it’s not possible to knit a pun, please allow me to introduce you to the Plaidypus Cowl by Mary P. Hunt.

This is admittedly a pretty niche item to be sharing, but you know I have a thing for whimsy, and I don’t know that I’ve seen much lately as whimsical as a plaid knit platypus cowl.

The project includes three different plaid options for you to choose from, and while the pattern calls for sport weight yarn its suggested you could also use DK weight if you prefer something a little heavier.

There’s one size in the pattern, which makes a pretty deep cowl to fit a whole platypus (I mean plaidypus) on it. The sport weight version is 15 inches or 38 cm deep, which is definitely longer than the average neck. The DK weight one would be 17 inches/43 cm long and 27 inches/68.5 cm around, while the sport weight one is 23 inches or 58.5 cm in circumference.

That means it’s not easy to see what’s going on when you wear the cowl, but I actually think that’s part of the fun, too. When someone complements your cowl you can show them the secret!

I would also note that color selection seems to be really important in this project. Looking at the finished projects on Ravelry, on some it is easy to see the design and on others it is not. High contrast is important if you want the platy to be obvious, or you can choose an option that makes it blend in if you want.

You can see finished projects and grab the pattern for your own on Ravelry.

[Photo: Mary P. Hunt]

I’ve kind of fallen into a loom knitting rabbit hole lately. Long story short, I got burned out a needle knitting, so I figured loom knitting would be similar but not the same, and I am enjoying it, although it is slower than knitting with needles for sure (that might also be a good thing right now).

Most people start their loom knitting adventures making a hat (Marching North has a great basic beanie pattern that’s sized from preemies up to large adults, depending on the size of loom you use) or a scarf, where you just knit in rounds until you have a piece long enough to be a scarf, the sew the ends closed.

But there’s a lot more you can do, even as a person who is new to loom knitting, so let’s check out some more fun loom knitting patterns.

The first thing I made when I picked up a loom again was a couple of knit pumpkins. This is a super simple and fast project, and if you know me, you know I can’t get enough pumpkins (they are everywhere in my house this time of year!).

If you want to add a little cuteness to your loom knit hats for kids, check out the fruit hats from 5 Little Monsters. These don’t include a pattern but you can use your regular hat pattern and add the details.

Knitting looms are typically used in the round, which makes a stitch that looks like stockinette stitch, but you can also work flat and use a purl stitch to make fabric that looks like garter stitch. I want to try this garter stitch scarf from Loom a Hat (which I’m sure has lots more great projects you can try!).

And once you know how to purl you can also knit ribbing, so you can make projects like this loom knit coffee cup cozy from Good Knit Kisses. It reminds me of my Halloween coffee cup cozy, and since it’s knit flat you could duplicate stitch a face or anything else you want on there.)

Another easy flat knit project is this twisted headband from Marching North. It’s worked flat then joined into a loop, twisted and seamed. There are good photos in the post to show you what to do. And because it uses super bulky yarn it works up super fast.

Every time I went looking for loom knitting patterns I would run into this loom knit pickle pattern from One Little Project, so you have to see it, too. This would be a fun one if your family does a Christmas pickle ornament, though it’s worked with blanket yarn so it comes out pretty big.

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