North Wind (free cowl pattern)

It's been a few weeks since my last post. Sad but true.  I was absolutely unprepared for the level of chaos to follow that extra week of Christmas vacation we had--not that I am complaining about the vacation.  January and May are my most hectic months because I am the coordinator for all things AP (Advanced Placement) at my school.  Thanks to the extra vacation, registration for next year's AP classes and registration for this year's AP exams in May fell right on top of one another.  And what a whirlwind of teenage indecision it has been!  Throw in a new semester and me being the lone creator of a new set of Unit Plans and lesson plans for the "method of instruction" project, and there's no time for the fun stuff.  (Basically, I teach it the way that earns me the highest test scores in the county--my way--and everyone else teaching 10th grade lit. does it the way that the principal wants them to do it, and then I prove that I'm right, per usual, when the state test scores come back.  It's a silly game we play in high school education.)

So, amid the dying, knitting (Sportsman is one glove away from being published in Knit Picks!  Exciting, if I weren't two weeks behind schedule!), freezing my tail off in a classroom that only has had heat until 9 am (then the air conditioning comes on!!!), the chaos of teaching 10th graders to think for themselves, and my "twin" (as the students refer to her) teacher placing orders for a string of cowls yet-to-be-knitted from my hand-dyed yarns, I have accidentally come up with the following pattern (for personal use only, please!  No commercial sales of this pattern without my express consent, please!).  This is a little stash buster project--no new yarns were purchased for this project; which is, incidentally, an odd turn of events if you know me, since pretty much everything in my stash is loosely assigned to one unbegun project or another.  The Kertzer came from a lovely yarn swap that I participate in at Ravelry (Knittin' Good Yarn Swap).  You should stop by, join, and sign up for the March swap … we could be swap buddies!

North Wind

Needles:  US 11 (I used bamboo)

Gauge: (in stockinette) 4 stitches x 3 rows = 1 inch

Yarns:  1 skein Kertzer Tiara in Sapphire (90 yds = 50g); 90 yards of Naturally Caron Spa Bamboo in Misty Taupe

Note:  This pattern is knit with double strands --knit both the sapphire and the taupe together at the same time for the entire pattern.  You should also note that this yarn combo is S-T-R-E-T-C-H-Y!  What seems to be a really narrow tube in the end is going to stretch out plenty; so don't fret!

CO 27 stitches.

1. Slip 1, Knit in garter stitch across. Repeat for 6 rows (3 pearl rows must appear on right side!). End with a WS row completed.

2. (RS) Slip 1, Knit across.  (WS) Slip 1, Pearl across.  Repeat these two rows for 9 rows (row 9 should be a right-side row).

Repeat 1 & 2 to desired length or until you run out of yarn.  You should end with the 9 rows of stockinette.  BO 

On the wrong side of the fabric, using the mattress stitch, sew the two sides of the cowl together.  Be careful to turn the BO seam to the wrong side of the fabric before sewing.  Done carefully, you will not be able to visually determine the beginning/end of the cowl.

Knit to be warm!  Happy Monday!