Hunger Games Huntress Cowl Thingy

Have you come across the Katniss Cowl? I was perplexed until I Googled it and came across Katniss Everdeen from the Hunger Games. I must admit that I am totally ignorant of this particular film craze but I gather that it involves some kind of teenage dystopian vision incorporating curious, asymmetrical knitwear and battles to the death. My lovely friend Helen asked me to make one for her 40th Birthday fancy dress party and I love a new challenge. The original is in a flecky, suitably post-apolcalyptic oatmeal but Helen wanted to be able to wear it again with her normal clothes so she chose Drops Andes in Blue-Purple. There are a number of patterns online but I chose to buy the Huntress Vest by Two of Wands because it looked the most Hunger Gamesish and was the most stylish I could find.

The original pattern is a mixture of crochet and knitting (I don’t knit) but fortunately she has adapted the pattern to be totally crochet meaning that you don’t quite get the herringbone effect in the front triangle pattern. It is a well written and nicely presented pattern, however, and I would definitely go back to her again in the future. My only glitch was that I found it a bit tricky to attach the herringbone crochet section to the cowl piece and had to cobble it together a bit to make it sit nicely.

My version turned out smaller, which was (mostly) intentional because Helen is petite and I thought it would be easier to wear if it was a slimmer fit and closer to to the neck. I also crochet tight so unless I size up my hook things always turn out small. I don’t have a hook bigger than 10mm though and I was too impatient to wait for the next size up to arrive in the post. I have been doing loads of fiddly things recently with lace-weight yarn and tiny hooks so it was great to make something chunky that works up fast. All we need now is a excuse to dress up and celebrate with a cocktail or three!

The morning after….

I can report that a lot of fun was had by all and Helen looked fab in her costume. I don’t have a good party picture but I suspect that the Mockingjay is a little less chirpy this morning 😉 I also appear to have order for 3 more cowls, happy days.

Happy Birthday Helen, with lots of love from all of us at Yarntangler Heights xx