The Kayak cowl was a present I designed for my cousin Mary, who loves to kayak but finds that scarves are too bulky (and too likely to fall in the water). But she needs something to keep her neck warm, so here is my answer to the problem. Created for those two-three ounce handdyed tops that I never seem to be able to resist, this cowl can be snug or longer. The knitting is straightforward but the cowl does involve grafting the two ends using Kitchener stitch. However, you can also make it just a BIT longer and use buttons; just start with a garter edge and put four equally spaced yarnovers before your closing garter edge! This double basket stitch from the Barbara Walker’s A Treasury of Knitting Patterns is very stretchy and interesting, not wholly reversible but very similar on both sides.

Nota bene: The versions posted here use my handspun, though the commercial yarn works just as well!