Love is a universal condition among humans, and many other species as well. So many have tried to describe it, though it remains very individual and unique to those who experience it:

“Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.”
- Robert A. Heinlein

“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.”
- Lao Tzu

“There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness.”
- Friedrich Nietzsche

“The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved; loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves.”
- Victor Hugo

And as love is a universal condition, emojis have become a universal language. Of course they can save us time when we are texting, but they can also help us express emotions we can’t quite put into words, or lend nuance to our communication. The wonderful thing about them is that they can be understood by everyone around the world, no matter where we live or what language we speak.

The Emoji Hearts Cowl combines several of the emojis that express love and affection. Directions are included for two sizes, 21.25” and 25.5” circumference; both are 7” tall. This is a flexible, modular design that you can customize. Charts are included for the solid heart, sparkle heart, layered heart, double hearts, circling hearts, and broken heart. My cowl is the smaller size, and includes all the charts except for the broken heart. You can repeat the same design all around the cowl if you wish, or alternate two or three, or use all different ones as I have done. This is a simple knit for anyone with some experience with stranded knitting. It is knitted in the round on a circular needle and needs no shaping, so you can easily knit it up for yourself or a loved one in time for Valentine’s Day. It is knitted with fingering weight yarn, in this case a soft, squishy alpaca blend, so it’s a soft, comforting expression of love.

Skills required:
• Long tail cast on
• Knit and purl stitches
• Stranded color stockinette knitting
• Knitting in the round

Size: Two sizes: 21.25” and 25.5” circumference. Both are 7” tall.

Materials:
Fingering or sock weight yarn in 3 colors. I used DROPS Flora fingering weight yarn – 65% Wool, 35% Alpaca, 50g/230 yds in the following colors and amounts:

Yarn amounts:
• 02 White – 35 (45) yds
• 03 Light Grey Mix – 60 (75) yds
• 18 Red Mix – 145 (175) yds