Shiprock 2 is a kerchief style cowl knitted seamlessly in one piece, using one skein of fingering weight self-striping yarn (383yds/115g/350m).

The cowl front is double-layered for warmth, with a minimal back neck you can wear without bulkiness under a coat or jacket.

You’ll work in garter stitch, knitting both flat (side to side) and in the round, for a fully reversible project. Edges are finished with slip stitches that turn corners neatly around the bottom borders.

Optionally, you can finish your project with decorative beaded tassels as shown.

Yarn notes

I designed this cowl to be knit with one skein of self-striping yarn because I’m just not fond of weaving in ends. I love the Geosmin colorway of String Theory Colorworks “Infinity” yarn I used for my project, but these long yardage, self-striping sock yarns would also be great:

• Continuum Self Striping from String Theory Colorworks
• Zauberball® from Schoppel-Wolle
• Chroma Fingering from Knit Picks
• Jawoll Magic from Lang Yarns
• Pairfect from Schachenmayr Regia

You could also knit your Shiprock 2 with multiple colors of different yarns, choosing when and where the stripes occur or changing up the textures … this project makes a great stashbuster!

Skills needed

Rated for an Advanced Beginner who’s comfortable knitting both flat and in the round; fast and fun for experienced knitters too. The majority of Shiprock 2 is worked in garter stitch. Complete written instructions are included for the Knitted Cast-On and Lace Bind Off methods, and for K1TBL, SL1WYIF, K2tog, M1R, M1L and SSK. A photo tutorial and video links are provided for making the optional tassels.

Extras

For the optional tassels, you may want a pair of decorative beads. These should be relatively lightweight, with a hole big enough to pass a needle threaded with your project yarn through twice.

I’ve had several inquiries about the skull beads I used on the tassels of my Shiprock 2 cowl … I bought mine locally, but just found them online 15 for $5 (about 4 times cheaper lol), here:

http://factorydirectcraft.com/catalog/products/1302_790_2332_2331-52114-multicolored_skeleton_skull_beads.html

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This is my second knitting design inspired by New Mexico’s magnificent Shiprock geologic formation, which is the “neck” of an ancient volcano that rears steeply and dramatically 7,000 feet from the surrounding Four Corners desert. Shiprock is so big, it’s visible from space!

My original Shiprock cowl pattern is similar in appearance, but is constructed in a single layer and knit sideways in DK weight self-striping yarn, shown here http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/shiprock-cowl .

Read more about Shiprock here: http://southwestdesertlover.wordpress.com/tag/shiprock.