DIY Hand Knit Cruella DeVille Inspired Cowl

 One of my favorite villains from the Disney library is Cruella DeVille. She has her own theme song, she's wickedly audacious and her penchant for fashion should make us all jealous. When I saw this cowl pattern (which also has matching gloves, hat and shawl!) I was immediately reminded of her. And I had to have it; all of it! I'm not usually drawn to these sorts of things, but I must have been channeling my inner Cruella. It makes me smile just to think of wearing it. And obviously, while I'm wearing it too!

This set of patterns is called Frost. (I actually was thinking of Frozen when I saw the name.) The booklet itself is $15 for all four patterns. The corset patterning of the knitting in this cowl gives it a little more interest and helps it stand up to the ostentatious "fur." This cowl is also shaped in such a way as to keep the right side facing out at all times instead of turning in on itself like most cowls do. I love this attention to detail. It's not the sort of mindless knitting I thought it was going to be, but it was worth doing it right. And the pattern made it very easy to follow.

I took some liberties with the materials, mostly because the yarn in the pattern book has now been discontinued, so I had to find a replacement. I decided not to splurge so much on this yarn and went with the Hobby Lobby brand Lace in ivory. I also went wanted something synthetic for the fur, (not so very Cruella of me I realize), but that would drape nicely and not look like fun fur. I went with Lion Brand's Romance in ivory. I am very pleased with how this looks! And bonus for me, all the yarn was 50% off, so the materials to create this cowl were under $10. This looks far more expensive than that! It's definitely going to be my "dressy" accessory for a night out at Dance Kaleidoscope! Until next time, may all your days be filled with fairy dust!