I designed this cowl to go with Caron’s Fairly Fair Isle Hat which is a free pattern designed by Tanis Gray. For info, see my Ravelry page notes:

http://www.ravelry.com/projects/kimmyz/fairly-fair-isle-hat

The cowl took me less than a day to make, and would be a nice introduction to fair isle (2-color) knitting. I love the Caron Country yarn. It’s so soft and drapey. The slight sheen makes it look as though it contains some silk. Sadly, it has been discontinued, though it’s still available at clearance prices online. Buy some while you can! Any light worsted yarn may be substituted, but try to use something that has some drape to it. The yarn I used has incredible yardage. I bought only one ball of each color which was enough for both hat and cowl with considerable yarn left over. So I would say that 80 yards (73 meters) of each color would be more than enough for making the cowl alone.

This cowl slips on over the head with no closures. If you have never tried to knit a picot edge hem, this pattern has very good instructions for doing so. It could be easily adapted for any size due to the very simple construction.