The simple tubular shape of this cowl is brought to life
by the complex-looking, but actually rather straightforward, intricate latticework pattern that flows out of the DKBrioche rib cuffs at top and bottom.

Many people assume that this effect is created with cables, but the truth is that there is not a cable in sight, and the whole thing is worked using increases and decreases, or rather, Dec/Incs, which bend the columns of the DKBrioche rib in all sorts of attractive directions.

The feature I love most about this design is the negative space BETWEEN the lattice lines: instead of just seeing the chevrons of the brioche yarnovers nestling between the knit stitches, in this cowl, those yarnovers splay out, fanwise, looking like little flames, giving the illusion that this pattern must be a LOT harder to create than it actually is.

When I originally designed this cowl, I made one that was MUCH shorter, and nowhere near as cosy. I also made it out of just two colours, which remained constant throughout the project. I felt it needed a reboot for the book, however, and so this longer, improved rainbow-striped version was born. (To be honest, I didn’t plan to make a striped one, but partway through knitting it, I just couldn’t ignore the nagging feeling that I REALLY wanted a rainbow-striped cowl!)

You could, of course, easily decide to go with stripes, like mine, or without, like the original. If you like the stripes, and want to replicate them in your cowl, the instructions for how to do so are included below. If not, just divide the total yardage for the cowl by two, and that is how much yarn you would need for each colour.

You could just as easily decide to go for a shorter version, just by doing fewer of the eight-row repeats than I have specified.That’s up to you. Either way, you are sure to revel in your Rhodean Sun cowl, the way I revel in mine.

The name, out of interest, comes from the fact that when I designed and knitted my original samples for this hat and cowl set, I was enjoying an idyllic holiday with friends, on the gorgeous Greek island of Rhodes, staying with the wonderful family who own the Rhodean Sun hotel.