Inspiration for these two cowls comes from the need to make an original gift for a couple of avid Steamboat Springs, Colorado skiers in my family. The undulating pattern zigzags across the cowl like the tracks left in the downhill trail of a slalom race. Her version is lacy and light. His version is thick and tight. Of course, you can use this pattern any way you choose. Either would make a gender neutral version in the appropriate yarn. I would choose either a solid color or mildly tonal color so as not to distract from the pattern itself. And 250 yards would be plenty to complete a cowl.

The skills required for making these cowls would be experience with knitting in the round, yarnovers, knitting stitches together out of order, and, if you’re anything like me, counting while you watch TV!

It’s an easy pattern to memorize and master with great results. And with the appropriate size needle to yarn weight, all you have to do is work a gauge sample to figure out how many stitches to cast on. I will give information for fingering weight and DK weight yarns. If you want to make the cowls larger or smaller in circumference, add or subtract in multiples of 4.