This warm and fuzzy cowl is designed to match Sandstorm, but with a twist: it pairs the leftovers from the original hat with another skein of Eco (Highland) Duo to create a color-blocked, 40-inch-long, 8-inch-high loop.

I originally cast on 160 stitches, but it quickly became clear that it would either be too tall (if I used all of the yarn) or leave a lot of yarn unused (if it was an acceptable height). Since the goal was to use up both skeins, I frogged and cast on 200 stitches instead.

I used a long-tail cast on, 8 rounds of ribbing on bottom and top, the back join to change colors, the lace bind off (k2togtbl), and TECHknitter’s GOOD method for completing a bind off in the round. The bind off isn’t quite as stretchy or as pretty as the cast on, but the alpaca content in this yarn wouldn’t allow for a sewn bind off, and other stretchy methods were even less aesthetically satisfying.