Zen is a state of calm attentiveness in which one’s actions are guided by intuition rather than by conscious effort. Zen can also be used to describe someone’s peaceful and calm state of mind.

Crocheting and knitting are highly meditative, and are the perfect Zen activity to move one’s mind away from worries and stress of the day to a more peaceful and calm state.

My Zen Stitches cowl is a quick, relaxing and fun project that has an easy two-row repeat stitch pattern that forms an open mesh for the main body section, and seven rows for the lace section that forms tall stacked scallops.

For my cowl, I used one skein of Knit Picks Chroma Fingering (396 yards/100 grams), a single-ply fingering weight color gradient yarn. Be sure to look at all of the many lovely color choices for this yarn! The long color changes of the Chroma yarn are perfect for the cowl and the colors move easily from one color to the next.

Zen Stitches is a very easy-to-wear cowl and has the look of a wrapped shawl, with no ends to keep in place. You just simply drop it over you head and it stays in place. Best of all the Zen Stitches cowl is the perfect gifting project because it’s quick to crochet and uses a small amount of fingering weight­ yarn.

Skills required: ch, sc, dc, sl st. Skills needed for closely following the written instructions for the 7 lace section rows, with chart reading skills being highly recommended.