You know those big, bulky cowls that use enormous yarn and knit up in a couple of hours? Well, because you are holding your yarn doubled up and using a big ole needle, this pattern knits up like one of those bulky cowls but manages to not actually be bulky.

The cowl utilizes two stitches; the knit stitch and what I am calling a Split Stitch. It is a stitch that takes longer to explain than it does to execute, but the pattern walks you though it and once you try it out you will be surprised how easy it is. There are even pictures. This stitch is what gives the illusion of color work when the only thing you are doing is knitting stripes. There is no actual color work (stranded, mosaic or intarsia) involved in this pattern.

Designed with the adorable 25 g balls of yarn made for color-work, this cowl is also great for using up your DK(ish) weight scraps. I used 4 colors for my progression but you could get away with as few as two (or one if you wanted a solid color) and as up to as many as makes you happy. I could also see it working great with a solid and a gradient.

My testers assure me that this pattern clocks in at a difficulty level appropriate for an adventurous beginner.