This is the younger sister of the original Downtown Cowl. They are clearly related, but uniquely different. Although they have a lot of row patterns in common, they are unique in size, shape and personality.

The original Downtown Cowl was designed to bring out the best of a multicolored skein and conquer unwanted pooling. Downtown Chicago handles multi colored skeins with ease but also thrives with tonal yarns.

Downtown Chicago is fun to knit. There is enough variety to make knitting interesting, but nothing is complicated. It is easy to wear and seems to hang just right all day.

Gauge is not easy to measure. If you are a loose knitter, you will use more yarn than I did. If you are running short, you may choose to omit some pattern rows, reduce the width of the ribbed borders, or even knit the final border with a contrasting or coordinating color.

For example, rows 66 through 71 can easily be omitted. After row 65, begin the ribbing which can be shortened if desired.

Most knitters prefer using one needle size for the whole cowl. If your ribbing is quite loose, you could drop down one size on one or both borders.