A New Year, A New Crochet Cowl Free Pattern

Ravelry Project Page

Everyone, especially beginning crocheters, should know about Judi's Building Block Cowl. It's a lovely and warm new crochet cowl scarf designed by crochet teacher Judith Weingarden. As she explains below, she had crochet beginners in mind as she designed this mobius cowl. 

Ravelry Project Page

It's an instantly downloadable crochet pattern at her new Crocheted Jewels website. You can also see it in different yarns in Ravelry and its photo set.


Here's what Judi told me the other day about her mobius cowl design: 


     Because many of my students are beginners, I wanted a cowl pattern that would use only single crochet and chain stitches. I teach crocheting at 2 locations in Avon, CT - Michaels and Yarnover.

Ravelry Project Page

     The pattern is a mobius, and can be worked up quickly.

     I am offering it as a free download on my new website, and thought this crochet cowl design blog would be another great place to offer it. I am thrilled to be dipping my hook into the world of design! I love teaching and crocheting, and am really excited to be combining the two!  


Thanks Judi for letting us know about your new free crochet pattern!
Here is the direct download link to the pattern.

The Perfect Stitch for Fall Crochet Cowls!

- - Free Crochet Pattern Alert! see below - -

Slip Tectonics Cowl combines two kinds of slip stitches so that it
is self-shaping. This gives it easy-chic looks and comfort.

Thaxton Hood Cowl

I'm in love with my new cowls made with the super stretchy, warm, soft, snug, and stylish crochet slip stitch ribbing. Especially in short row wedges! So, I've created a free crochet pattern called "Slip Slope Scarf" to help introduce this technique, see below.

Short rows and slipped stitches are both much more common in knitting than crochet. Together they make magic for crochet cowls.

Slip Slope Scarf (free pattern)
Pattern includes guidelines for making a
 loop scarf & moebius-style infinity scarf. 

In crochet, combining slip stitches and short rows is rare. When I do see crochet short rows, it's more often for "soakers" (diaper covers) in regular crochet, and for Tunisian crochet. 


The few short-rowed slip stitch designs I've found so far have been for hats--and I can see why! What a fabulous fabric for toasty hats that keep ears covered!

Side view of the self-shaping  
Slip Tectonics Cowl  

(For some examples of these non-cowl short row designs, see my Crochet Inspirations Newsletter Issue #29.)

Slip Slope Scarf
as scarf

Personally I prefer to wear cowls as hat-like hoods when I need them. Also, right now I'm loving the new textures and color patterning I can do with crochet slip stitch rib short rows worked flat, rather than in the round as hats usually are. That's where I'm at in my crochetin' journey.


Below is a photo from my free online tutorial. It shows the slip stitch short rows in progress. 

Fast, FREE Crochet Cowl Pattern, for a Limited Time?

© DRG

I stumbled on this free downloadable pdf just now, and am announcing it here a.s.a.p. because I don't know how long it's available at the link below!


Beginner's Luck by Allison Weldon is a new crochet cowl that you could whip up in an hour or less, even if you're a new crocheter! It's the Featured Pattern of the new December 2011 issue of Crochet World magazine. 


In Ravelry.

New Crochet Cowls for Fall

Here are two very new crochet designs for cowls that I'm seeing around the 'net. They're just right for early Fall:

Red Circle © Bernadette Ambergen

Doesn't Bernadette Ambergen's Red Circle look like fun to crochet and to wear? Her downloadable pattern PDF is available for $5 in her Etsy shop, Berniolies Designs. 

Tuni Trio Cowl © Caron International

Cari Clement designed Tuni Trio Cowl, an easy Tunisian crochet cowl. Its fun colorwork method looks stylish for Fall. Not only that, it's a free crochet pattern! 


I've done this three-color Tunisian crochet method, and it's addictive. This is a great time to get hooked on it if you haven't tried it yet.
Happy crocheting everyone!

Easy Style: Crochet "Brioche" Stitch Cowl (free pattern)

Sometimes a crochet stitch pattern like this one is just so perfect, and a cowl is the perfect way to show it off. 

Cami has a blog called Art, Like Bread. I love this from her blog: 

In the Winter 2011 issue of the free online magazine, Tangled, editor and professional designer Tracy St. John offers a crochet cowl pattern called Radicowl. 

It features a reversible crochet "brioche stitch" pattern that is one is one of my personal favorites. Not only is it fast and easy, it's super fun to see what happens when you change colors! 

I agree with Tracy, it has the charm of knit brioche with all the added benefits of being crocheted. 

I've met new crochetin' friends in Twitter, and Cami (aka Caissa McClinton) is one of them. Check out her completed Radicowl: 

"The world is beautiful and art, like bread is for everyone."

You can also see her portfolio and website here: http://artlikebread.com/home.html . If you're in Ravelry (it's free to join) clicking here will take you to Cami's project page for the Radicowl. 

The Loken Cowl

I am so pleased to be able to talk about the Loken cowl that I designed for Berroco yarn company, as part of their eBook of patterns featuring their new Flicker yarn.

The brief I was given, was basically, to design an oversized cowl featuring crochet motifs.  I wanted the motifs to be unique, and I achieved this in the way that they are joined together.  This cowl is completely seamless and begins by crocheting 2 strips of motifs.  Then, the top and center motifs are made separately and incorporated into the spaces in the cowl by crocheting around edges of the previously joined motifs and into loops of the center or top motifs, simultaneously.  This creates bold thicker areas around the motifs which gives them an interesting texture, because the edges stand up and away from their centers.

When the bottom portion of the cowl is complete, you are rewarded the fun of crocheting the lovely shaped cowl neck in rounds above the motifs.  Working these chain stitch rounds is something I could do for hours on end!  It grows quickly and it is easily shaped by increasing or decreasing the number of chains.

It can be worn either loose around the neck or pulled down to cover the shoulders as in the photo above. It could also be made into a larger or smaller size by adding to or subtracting from the motif repeats, and altering the number of chains in the neck to fit.

There is more about my design process and some additional photos of the cowl here, on my blog, if you are interested!

"Nine to Five" Convertible Crochet Cowl

Designer Janet Brani of OneLoopShy Designs emailed me in January to let me know of a crochet cowl pattern that's available as a FREE pdf download at her Ravelry store.

Some notable details about Janet's cowl are:

• A detachable buttoned tab of Tunisian knit stitch
• Pattern includes a crochet flower than can be buttoned onto the tab as optional embellishment (see third photo below)
• A two-hour one skein project using a US G crochet hook
• Yarn shown is Silky Wool by Elsebeth Lavold, which seems to be popular--several designers have used it lately. One skein has 192 yards (175 meters), in case you wish to substitute with yarn in your stash.

Janet Brani holds the copyright to all 3 images.

I'm just now getting back into the blogging swing of things, so be looking for more blog posts soon! Thanks for visiting -- Vashti

Some really COOL cowl wrapping ideas

I know this pattern is knitting, BUT  look at some of the really NEAT ideas they have to wear one of the longer cowls.  I really like the shrug look!

Here is the pattern

Child's Crochet Cowl & Wristlets, A Free Pattern

Happy Week Two of 2011! Yes, I'm slowly recovering from the holidays. How about a free crochet pattern to kick off the new year?

Kristine Mullen has designed Snow Princess Cowl & Wristlets and the full pattern can be found at her blog, Ambassador Crochet. It's sized to fit preteens and younger. Kristine notes that it's an easy enough pattern for beginning crocheters too.

Isn't this a great photo of a Snow Princess with her own crochet cowl and wristlets set?

So, as promised a little while ago...a free pattern! This is my Hairpin Lace Infinity Scarf...a type of cowl! My Christmas present to all of you! If you happen to make one, drop me a line and a pic to post on my Reader's Gallery! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

New Free Crochet Cowl Pattern Today

Fresh off the crochet hook is Carol Wolf's warm cowl with a lot of drape and luster. It's called Roli's Cowl and the pattern was posted today at her Wolf Crochet blog:

She used 300-400 yards of a sport weight bamboo blend. Nice job, Carol!
Here's the Ravelry page for Roli's Cowl.

Free Crochet Cowl Patterns!

Free crochet cowl patterns galore! Crocheting is fast, and even the smaller 1-skein cowls can be plenty warm, so there's still plenty of time to crochet cowls for Christmas gifts.

Free Indie Patterns for Small, Quick Cowls

Deb Burger's free 1-skein cowl-to-hat design

Deb Burger's free one-skein crochet cowl converts into a hat (photo by Deborah E. Burger). How cool is that? When you click on this link, please explore the free online Crochet Uncut magazine. You can see 37 or so projects here.

Newest news: Beth of Displaced Moose has a free new downloadable crochet cowl pattern!

Elizabeth Ann White offers one at her website; you can see another without fringe at its Ravelry page. (Be sure to also check out the 17 projects made from the pattern so far. Some are even smaller in size.)

Free Indie Patterns for Larger Cowls
About the more generous-sized cowls, Cheryl Brown of Purple Butterfly tweeted: "I love the cowls that cover my shoulders and b/c I also love shawls, ponchos and wraps I feel it is all in one." I agree with Cheryl--when I wear Orbit, I enjoy it like it's a wrap, only more so.

Suzana Davidovic of Croatia recently uploaded a free pattern for a larger crochet cowl to Ravelry. It uses about 400 yards of sport weight yarn and an I/5.5mm crochet hook.

Stephanie of The Crimson Owl published a free cowl pattern on her blog last year and I've seen people are talking about it again this year in online forums. Also see her follow up post about it, and its Ravelry page with 333 projects listed. Yes: 333!

Free Cowl Patterns from Yarn Companies
My crochet friend and Crochet Inspirations Newsletter subscriber Eleanor Lahn wrote to me about Lion Brand's cowl patterns: "Lion Brand’s latest newsletter has a link to all 60+ of their cowl patterns. I think Lion Brand has done as much as anyone to promote cowls in the past year -- they have lots of clever patterns." Thanks for pointing it out, Eleanor! Here's the link. (Some knit patterns are mixed in with the crochet)

Paradores

Aspen

Caron (scroll through projects to see cowls and scarflets). I especially like Aspen, designed by Kim Guzman and Tammy Hildebrand's Paradores Infinity Scarf.

Red Heart Yarns by Coats & Clark has a few free patterns for crochet cowls here.

Bernat's Cluster Cowl

Bernat has a lovely new free crochet cowl pattern called "Cluster Cowl" in an alpaca blend yarn. (Note that you have to become a member of the site (it's free) to access the free patterns.)

Some Crochet Cowls Around the Web

1) Heidi Heisl has an Etsy shop where she offers a PDF pattern for a "Mammoth Crochet Cowl." It makes the "eternity scarf"-type of cowl look very warm and fun to wear--you just coil it around as many times as you like and it would fit around the bulkiest coat collars.

ALERT - ALERT -  FREE CROCHET PATTERN  - ALERT - ALERT 

2) Go check out Angryolive's Twisted Cowl. This one's a mobius-style cowl. (In this case, that special mobius twist is created after the crocheting, when you seam it.) The pattern is right there at angryolive's livejournal page.


3) And finally, have a look at this hooded cowl for men. OK yes, it's knitted--machine knitted I'm sure. But wouldn't it be fun and easy to crochet?

Everyone keeping their necks warm? It's cold even here in Florida!

Cowls make great "firsts."

Often, beginning crocheters are given a traditional, simple scarf pattern to follow as their first project. Maybe teachers think a scarf gives the crocheter LOTS of practice; they do seem to go on forever. I've found that making a scarf can be quite frustrating to beginners for a couple of reasons: it's hard for beginners to always make even edges, and scarves don't give that sense of completion and accomplishment that new crocheters need since they take some time to complete.

Enter cowls! A cowl is the perfect thing to rescue a new crocheter. Because it can be done in a spiraled round, there are no edges to worry about. It also is nearly as fast to make as a hat, but requires no shaping. Here's a simple cowl recipe you can use the next time you're teaching a friend to crochet:

Step 1: Make a chain between 24 and 28" long depending on how loose you want your cowl.

Step 2: Work in spiraled single crochet or half-double crocheted rounds until the cowl is the height you want: 12" works well, but taller is nice too. [Variation: work in the back loop to get a smoother, drapier fabric].

Fasten off, weave in your ends, and you're done!

[The cowl shown above is my Cosmopolitan Cowl pattern.]