When Winter Winds Blow is a cozy cowl knit with two 400-430 yard skeins of your most luxurious fingering/sock weight yarns. This pattern really works for variegated yarns. You could also use the colors of your favorite sports team for a fun way to show off team pride!

It is cast on provisionally, worked in the round forming a tube, then the ends of the tube are Kitchener grafted together to form a continuous loop. It can be worn as a single loop or the Long size may be doubled for a cozier fit.

There is no wrong side because it is a closed, tube-shaped cowl—the snaggy, ugly part is hidden inside the tube!

You have two sizes to choose from:

• Short is wider and knit with two 430 yard skeins. It drapes comfortably around your neck.
• Long is narrower and is knit with two 400 yard skeins. It can be worn as a single loop or doubled to fit snugly around your neck.

This is a great pattern to knit while you’re commuting on the bus/train, sitting in waiting rooms, or binge watching your favorite tv shows.

My hope is that the circular, rhythmic motions of knitting will soothe your mind without boring you as each row is different. If you can read your knitting, you can memorize the pattern to free yourself from having to refer to a pattern.

When you’re finished, you’ll have a double layer cowl that’ll keep you toasty and warm when winter winds blow.

Skills required to complete this project:

• Provisional cast-on (I highly recommend this video by Knit Purl Hunter)
• Knitting in the round
• Working multiple colors in the round (only one color at a time)
• Kitchener stitch in the round bind-off and duplicate stitch to weave in end. (I highly recommend this video by Knit Purl Hunter. For a refresher on Kitchener grafting in general, here’s this video)

FINISHED SIZES
Short: 12.5” wide, 14.5” long, lying flat, doubled
Long: 7.5” wide, 22.5” long, lying flat, doubled

YARN
Short: Zen Yarn Garden Serenity Silk Single (75% Merino, 15% Cashmere goat, 10% Silk; 430 yards 393.2 meters/100 grams): Truffle (solid) (MC), 1 skein; Claysand (variegated) (CC), 1 skein
Long: Show Me Yarn Bootheel (80% Merino, 20% Nylon; 400 yards 365.8 meters/100 grams): Bois d’arc (black) (MC), 1 skein; Dogwood Canyon (pink) (CC), 1 skein

NEEDLES

• One set of Size US 6 (4 mm) interchangeable needles, two 16” or 20” interchangeable cables, and two cord stoppers (for grafting)

OR

• Two Size US 6 (4 mm): 16” or 20” circulars, and two cord stoppers (optional, but will make your life easier when grafting)

NOTIONS

• Size G (4 mm) crochet hook (optional for a provisional crochet cast on)
• 1 stitch marker (the working stitch marker)
• 2 removable stitch markers (for grafting)
• 2 needle stoppers (see needles above)
• waste yarn (for provisional cast on)
• tapestry needle (for weaving in ends and grafting)

GAUGE
Not crucial for this project, but samples were 24 sts and 26 rows = 4” 10 cm in St st after wet blocking.

BLOG POST
I blogged about this pattern here!