You have to love a free pattern, and on a Friday, well here it is. The Two Way Cowl and Scarf gives instructions for a single or a double cowl or a scarf in either 4ply yarn held together double or Aran weight. A perfect way to start Christmas gifts. The pattern uses knit and purl stitches with slipped stitches, nice and simple, over a four row pattern.
I had ripped back (frogged) a few shawls that I had made when I did the Cuddlebums Yarn Shawl Box for a few months. Whilst I loved them I didn't actually wear them because I like a nice big wrap around shawl rather than the smaller ones they were. So sat in front of me were three or four balled up shawls in beautiful hand dyed merino that just needed to be seen. I wanted something that would knit up quickly so sitting with just the 4ply that it was wasn't going to work. Double it up I thought and then I started knitting. I accidentally came across this pattern whilst playing around with striping a dark and light double stranded yarn, by slipping stitches in just the right places the stripes became horizontal on the front and vertical on the back. The scarf zipped up super quick and before I knew it it was long enough to wear. Well, I had more of this 4ply yarn left so turned it into a single cowl too.
Now, not everyone likes to work with two strands of yarn, my mum for one who tends to get into one big mess because she doesn't always catch both strands. So, two strands of 4ply equal an Aran weight yarn (worsted if you're in the US). I love James C Brett yarns, they are often missed over the bigger brands like Stylecraft but I have really fallen for the colour pallet and the beautiful combinations of fibre used. I used two balls of their Aztec Aran which is a mix of acrylic and wool and made another cowl. Success, with a slight adjustment of stitches to make it the same width as the 4ply ones.
And there we have it, the pattern was written and it's now here for you to start on those Christmas gifts. You could really play around with the 4ply held together. As long as the two strands are either light or dark the pattern will show through. I think I used two different light and around three different dark but the colours merge so well together you can get away with it.
Here's the pattern. It's also available over for free in my Ravelry Store if you want to add it to your to do list. Happy Knitting!