This pattern is being released in conjunction with the month-long celebration of YARNIVAL with Hands On Knitting Center . HOKC is 12 years old this year, and you can receive 12% off the purchase price of this pattern throughout July by using coupon code YARNIVAL before checking out.

A simple rectangle is partially seamed to create a cowl that you can wear multiple ways. Drape the split over your shoulder, or turn the cowl upside down and let the split fall apart like an open collar, either at the front of your neck or off on a jaunty angle. Knitting into the row below creates an attractive, textured fabric that traps air and keeps you insulated against the cold. The cowl could be worked with a single colour of yarn for a subtly textured piece, but here it is worked with two colours for visual interest as well as texture. The sample was knit with beautiful wool from Falklands Corriedale sheep, a limited-edition yarn from the Beyond Merino Yarn Club (a collaboration between Sweet Paprika Designs and The Small Bird Workshop to bring subscribers a “year of adventures in wool”). A smooth, wool-rich yarn that knits to a recommended tension of 20 stitches over 10 cm 4” would be a suitable substitute. Here, I have suggested Sweet Paprika’s DK-weight, 100% superwash merino Minuet yarn. It’s a little lighter than the yarn used in the sample, but would work well with the textured stitch pattern.

This is a simple project. The techniques you will need to know, or learn, to complete the project are:

• cast on and bind off;
• knit:
• knit into the row below;
• mattress stitch or other seaming technique.