Worn as either a long loop or doubled up for warmth, this pattern was specifically developed to work well with highly variegated yarns. I have a passion for hand dyed yarns and this beautiful SoftnShiny color-way, Sliced Blood Oranges, wonderfully represents the category. Too often these wildly colorful yarns do not play well with patterns, and all of your effort is for naught. The boldness of this design holds up to wild colors and shows them off with changes in direction and texture (not that it wouldn’t look great in a solid, because it would).

Although this cowl looks complicated it is actually a fast and easy knit. Utilizing a couple of extra fancy (but easy!) techniques you get a lot of “bang for your buck”. The cowl is like a roller coaster both in visual appearance and in how fun it is to knit. You coast along with row after row of simple stitches, and then BLAMMO! it gets very exciting for a row. Then you return to your coasting. And when it’s done, you won’t want to wait to take another ride.

Notions needed: 1 stitch marker, 1 removable stitch marker, tapestry needle. The needle is circular and you need at least 40 inches (100 cm) of length.

If you have any questions, please join us in the Barbara Benson Designs group.

If you are having specific difficulties with the lifted strand part of this pattern check out my Blog Post on the subject, it might answer your question. If not - feel free to ask!