As soon as the raft of barrels came in sight boats rowed out from the piles of the town, and voices hailed the raft-steerers. Then ropes were cast and oars were pulled, and soon the raft was drawn out of the current of the Forest River and towed away round the high shoulder of rock into the little bay of Laketown.

-- from The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Work on the water is chilly work, and work in the north makes it more so, but scarf ends that dangle are a risk of dipping into the water or tangling up in the ropes. The wise raftsman wears a cowl instead; smaller than a scarf but not less warm, easy to stow in pocket when it is not needed and quick to put on without worrying about ends.

This cowl is designed to be a companion piece to the Laketown Hat, using the same connected triskal motif but heavier yarn to make a thick, practical cowl that will protect neck, ears and nose. Being double-knitted, it is completely reversible with no wrong side nor looped yarn floats to catch the wearer.

The cowl as written hugs the face snugly, but can be made looser by increasing the number of motifs worked by casting on more cells (stitch pairs) in groups of 20. Increasing in this manner will require an increase of yardage as well.

This pattern is written for aran weight yarn; a heavy worsted or thin bulky weight yarn may be substituted, if gauge can be matched.

This pattern is not a tutorial for double-knitting.

Materials needed:

• @110 yards each in 2 colours of aran weight yarn
• 5mm (US 8) 40cm (16 inch) circular needle, or size needed for gauge
• end/start round stitch marker
• 3 additional stitch markers to mark repeats