Autumn is coming. Here, in Dordogne where I am living, autumn is mild, colourful and clement. It is a very nice season. However early morning and late afternoon may be cold. In this case, we need something around the neck and on the hands to warm them up; something not too heavy, featherweight and feminine; something with a nice drape; something that would recall Roxane, the sophisticated cousin and love of Cyrano de Bergerac. Roxane cowl and mittens were designed to fulfil such a need.

Roxane cowl is knitted in two lovely stitch patterns: Fir cone, a traditional Shetland pattern, and Flower, a cute little pattern that I have used a lot in the past for baby clothes and shawls. It is constructed in three sections. It begins with a lace pattern that quickly flows in an easier textured body and finishes with lace border again. The pattern comes in a medium size (circumference: 22”/56 cm; Height: 17”/43 cm). Some instructions are provided if a wider or a longer cowl is requested. Written instructions are given.

As a companion to this cowl you may wish to knit Roxane mittens. They come in two sizes (S/M and L/XL). They are fingerless, knitted from the cuff up the fingers with the same Flower pattern as the cowl. For them, written and charted instructions are given.
Roxane cowl and Roxane mittens are both lovely, ladylike, soft and warm.

Tools

• Cowl: One circular needle size US 4/3.5 mm; 31”/80 cm. Adjust needle size if necessary to obtain the correct gauge (4”/10 cm x 4”/10 cm = 21 sts x 32 rnds in border lace; 24 sts x 32 rnds in textured pattern for the body)
• Mittens: 5 dpns size US 1.5/2.5 mm; 5 dpns size US 2.5/3 mm. Adjust needle size if necessary to obtain the correct gauge (4”/10 cm x 4”/10 cm = 30 sts x 34 rnds in Flower pattern)
• Cowl and mittens:
• 2 Stitch markers
• 1 Tapestry needle
• Tape measure
• Ribbon for cowl: 0.4”/1 cm width; 3 yds/2.8 m length; colour of your choice according to the colour of the yarn (here nude)
• spare wool for mittens

Yarn
Because I am particularly fond of local wool and sheep, the yarn I used is the marvellous Titus de Baa ram ewe (50 yds/320 m, 3.5 oz/100g; 
50% Wensleydale, 
20% Bluefaced Leicester, 
30% UK Alpaca)= 1 skein ¼ (or 2 skeins for a bigger size.) for the cowl, 1/2 skein for mittens (size S/M).
However any other solid or semi solid wool with fingering quality is welcome. Avoid acrylic yarn, variegated yarn or heavier yarn. Have a preference for any local fleece suitable for the project.

Construction
Roxane cowl is knitted in the round, worked from the bottom up.
Roxane mitten are knitted in the round, bottom up, on 5 double pointed needles (you may prefer short circular needle). They have a confortable thumb gusset.
Difficulty: Intermediate or advance beginners.
Skill required: knit in the round, knit, purl, increase, decrease, yarn over, k2tog, sk2p and a p3tog which is the only real difficulty (small difficulty in fact!).

Note: Roxane cowl and mitten have been prepared with a lot of attention and care. However they have been tested only in one size (S/M for mitten). If there is any error in the text, please just write to the author to notice it.