Pattern Inspiration:
The title of this pattern comes from the opening scene of “The Great Muppet Caper”, when the Muppets are floating in a hot air balloon. Kermit asks Fozzie and Gonzo “Pretty nice up here, isn’t it?” This cowl is inspired by the balloon they’re floating in - chevron designs on the balloon itself and the basketweave texture to represent the balloon’s basket.

Basic Information:
Pattern is written in US crochet terms.
Yarn: DK weight (CYC weight 3). Approximately 250 (small)/350 (medium)/450 (large) yards. I used Cesium Yarn Strong DK (245yds/100g) for my samples.
Hook: 5 mm, or size needed to meet gauge.
Finished sizes: Small cowl - 20” circumference, 9.5” tall. Medium cowl - 24” circumference, 12” tall. Large cowl - 28” circumference, 15” tall.
Gauge: in side linked double crochet - 16 stitches by 10 rows = 4” by 4”

Special Stitches:
Side linked double crochet (sldc) - insert hook into bottom left leg of stitch (marked in pink in the photo), yarn over and pull up a loop, insert hook into next stitch (as you would for a normal double crochet), yarn over, pull up a loop, yarn over, pull through 2 loops, yarn over, pull through remaining two loops on hook. See pages 8-9 for a more comprehensive photo tutorial.