I woke up one morning with a very clear idea of a pattern based on a favorite image of mine: aspen trees in December surrounded by a bed of fallen fall leaves similar to photos by Ansel Adams that were popular in the 1980s. I started with a seed stitch border and then added my birch stitch pattern to the central section to mimic the knots on the aspen trees.

… and Aspen Winter cowl was born!

The country version mimics fallen snow and bare birch trees. The town version created with a custom colorway from Robin’s Roost yarn showcases the bright colors of fall leaves contrasted with the white and black of the birch trees.

Yarn information for Country version:

Approximately 50 yards natural alpaca worsted or other cream colored yarn
1 skein Romney Lamb Worsted from Prado de Lana Farm or other rustic farm yarn

Yarn information for Town Version:

1 skein worsted in the Aspen Winter colorway from Robin’s Roost Yarn or 200 yards of worsted weight yarn (see her shop on etsy)

Gauge:

5.5 stitches per inch seed stitch, 6 stitches per inch in birch pattern (country version)
5 stitches per inch seed stitch, 6 stitches per inch in birch pattern (town version)

Gauge is not essential to this pattern, but if you are using yarn of a different weight, please swatch to ensure that your finished piece approximates this gauge.

If you want to make a longer cowl, add stitches in multiples of 10 (the length of the birch stitch).