Part shawl, part cowl, part face warmer.

The Vertebral Cowl is knit from the bottom up, first flat, then in the round. Increases are stacked in the center to create eyelets that look a bit like a vertebral column, hence the name. Once it’s been joined in the round, the increases are paired with decreases on either side. Since it’s knit on needles several sizes too large, it works up incredibly quickly--I finished mine in about 6 hours.

Suitable for advanced beginners or experienced knitters.

I recommend that this be made with a stretchy wool, but if you plan to use acrylic or cotton, you may wish to make a size larger than what you would otherwise, since the cowl needs to be large enough to go over the head.

Techniques used:
Thumb Cast On (or preferred cast on method)
Knitting stockinette flat
Knitting stockinette in the round
Joining a piece in the round
Yarn Over
Decreasing using SSK
Decreasing using K2TOG
Icelandic Bind Off (or any similar stretchy bind off)
Blocking

Modeled by my sister (size adult small, in Shepherd’s Wool color Royal Blue)