My friend gave me her great-grandmother’s buttons from the 1920’s so I would do something with them. With the adjustable buttonhole of this cowl, I could have featured any of the collection, but the square shell with the circle carved in it seemed to fit the squares best.

The Herringbone Hexagonal Cowl begins with a center out square of Quaker Welt Stitch worked flat. The two sides around the buttonhole are bound off, then the cowl is finished with Rib and welt Diagonals worked on the bias. The buttonhole is closed with two seams and the cowl is secured with a button. The two seams give the buttonhole flexibility in case there is a truly huge button waiting for center stage.

I’ve written the instructions for (fingering, sport, dk) weight yarns, as if they were sizes, for ease of substitutions. (105, 175, 200) yards, (96, 160, 182) m of (Fingering, Sport, DK) yarn is needed.

(27, 23, 21) stitches of Rib and Welt Diagonals
in 4 inches / 10 cm measured along the row,
not on the bias. Wash and lay swatch flat to
dry before checking gauge.

Thanks to Anna, Guillermina, Kim, Marne and Nathalie for testing. Thanks to Orchard House Editing for Technical Editing.