Fun with crazy yarn

Thanks to after-Christmas sales coinciding with my birthday (and thus justification to buy something "just because", I finally was brave enough to acquire some Pagewood Farms U-Knitted Nations Handspun Bouquet. It's super super bulky but the thickness varies drastically every 8 inches or so. Also, it has what I like to call fun little pieces of "flair" every few feet - bits of yarn that look like little leaves or stems. I got extra brave and bought the bright variegated color scheme. After a bit of crochet fiddling, this is the cowl I ended up with:

(Sorry, I wasn't made up enough today to actually wear it in the photo).

I'm not sure when I will be brave enough to wear it - probably on a day when I am in great need of a sunny disposition and a smile.

If you're a fellow crocheter who thought you couldn't really use this yarn, here is how I made the cowl work with just 1 skein and an S hook (19mm):

1. Ch 28, join with a sl st to beginning ch.
2. Ch 1, sc in same st, ch 1, *sc in next st, ch 1, repeat from * around, joining with a sl st to top of beg sc.
3. Repeat row 2 until desired height.

You have to manipulate the flowers a little so that they face the front, and you occasionally have to pull them through a loop but the hook and loops are so large that this isn't usually a problem. You can budge the flowers a little bit in each direction if you need to optimize their location. The stitches are a little difficult to recognize sometimes so this may be easier for a more experienced crocheter.

If you need to frog it, gently take it apart by manipulating with your fingers so it falls apart easily (no tugging!). I think you may be able to get even more height by only working into the front or back loop, but I didn't like the way it looked on mine. Let me know if you found a way to crochet this yarn too!