January 2024 update: I am working on revising all my patterns and my Ravelry shop, and so all my patterns are currently unavailable to download. They will be back soon, once they’ve been edited, corrected, and updated! Watch this space…

This design also has matching patterns: the Gamzatti Legwarmers, and the Solor Socks! You can find them in my Ravelry store: If I Might Say A Word Designs.

I was inspired by brilliant cinema screenings of both the Royal Ballet and the Bolshoi Ballet’s versions of “La Bayadère” to design this cowl.

One of the main characters in the ballet La Bayadère, Nikiya is a temple dancer who is in love with Solor – but when she finds out that he must be married to another woman, Gamzatti, she is distraught. When a venomous snake bites her neck at his engagement party, Nikiya denies any antidote and dies, pining for Solor.

Perhaps if Nikiya had been wearing this cowl to protect her neck, the snake would never have bitten her… but then we never would have had the tragic tale of La Bayadère!…

YARNS, NEEDLES AND THE LIKE

You will be using both a DK and a 4-ply/fingering yarn in this pattern. (approximate meterage in this section is given for the larger cowl: you will need less if you prefer it more fitted.)

Approximately 160 metres of DK, such as…

• West Yorkshire Spinners Wensleydale Gems DK (225m per 100g skein, 100% Wensleydale wool) (shown in Red Jasper)

Approximately 150 metres of 4-ply/fingering, such as…

• Regia 4-fädig Mosaik Color (421m per 100g, 75% Wool, 25% Manufactured Fibers - Nylon / Polyamide) (shown in Bright Multi - this exact yarn is discontinued, but any similar sock yarn will work too!)

…or any other similar weight yarn.

Note: check your tension carefully, as the wide variety of different double knitting and 4-ply/fingering yarns means that depending on what you choose together, your tension might not be quite what you were expecting!

Suggested needles are…

• 3.5mm circular needles, 60cm long OR 3.5mm DPNs if you prefer

SIZES, MEASUREMENTS AND TENSION

The pattern is written in fitted and (loose), which is very easily adjustable for different sizes. The red cowl in the photographs and pattern is shown in (loose).

(measurements taken after blocking)

Height, measured flat: 23cm/9” for both sizes
Width of widest part, measured flat: 28.5cm/11.5” - (36.5cm/14.5”)

Tension: 26 stitches and 38 rows = 10cm in two-colour slipped stitches and ribbed pattern, after blocking.

If you knit this pattern, I’d love to see it! Share your WIPs and finished objects on Instagram with the hashtag #IIMSAWdesigns so I can see it!