Newsprint Cowl

I started a new project to insure that I will have knitting for tonight's plane trip.  I am doing the Newsprint Cowl.  The yarn is alpaca and silk that I bought at the market.



I had size 4 needles on hand which is the size that the pattern calls for.  I think that I actually cast on 183 stitches which was the wrong amount....but I did not correct the amount.  And miracles of miracles I managed to keep the stitches straight when I joined the stitches to knit in the round.  The colors are a light natural color and a dark brown natural color.

The method suggested for the cast on was the long tail method.  I finally found a way to estimate the amount of yarn needed that I actually like.  I cast on 20 stitches.  Then I took those stitches out and measured how long the amount of yarn for 20 stitches was.  Then I found something about the right size:



And wrapped enough times to get right amount in proportion.  The only problem is that I did it wrong this time....and ended up with twice what I needed.  But I think that this will be an excellent way to figure out amount of yarn for cast on in the future.