This pattern was so much fun to make and I love how funky the finished cowl is!  I have designed quite a few cowl patterns — Sassy Autumn Cowl, Be Weaving Cowl, Cascading Colors Cowl and the Knitty Pretty Reversible Cowl but this may be my favorite yet!  Made with only one cake of Lion Brand Mandala yarn it has a wonderful ridged texture using the back loop only (blo) technique.

Curly Cute Cowl in Chimera

The pattern looks more complicated than it really is and once you have the repetition down you won’t even need to look at the pattern as you will know what you should be doing next.

I really love the Lion Brand Mandala yarn* but if you are unfamiliar with it you can read all about it in my review of it here.  This pattern could certainly be made with another self striping cake but if you are making it with a larger weight yarn I would suggest doing fewer chains at the beginning.

*This post contains affiliate links.  You can click on any yarn or material highlighted to purchase.  I will receive a small commission if you purchase but it won’t cost you any extra!  

I do not like having bits of yarn left over and so I basically made this pattern with the intent that you would just go until you almost run out of yarn and then sew the seams together.  My first cowl in Chimera ended up with a total of 61 rows and the Wizard ended up with 67 rows — quite a big difference.  My gauge was the same but there must have been a fairly significant difference in yardage in the cakes.  This isn’t the first time I experienced this.  When I made my Aurora Skies baby afghan there also seemed to be a difference in yardage between some of the cakes.  Just a heads up as I didn’t want to give a specified number of rows in the pattern since you may see a difference in your cakes as well.  Frankly, not a big deal for this pattern.

I have included video tutorials below for those of you interested in learning the back loop only and also a complete tutorial on how to complete the cowl from start to finish.

Curly Cute Cowl in Wizard

There is nothing special you need to do to the curly cues to make them curl — they should just curl up like mine did.  If you just aren’t sure about the curls and wanted to make the cowl without them you could certainly adapt the pattern (and don’t worry — I will forgive you 🙂 ).  Instructions for making without the curlies would be to chain 77 (ch 2 doesn’t count as st), dc in 3rd ch from hook, dc in each ch to end.  Turn.  (75) Ch 2, dc in blo in same st and in each st across.  (75) That is it!

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Pattern written in US crochet terminology

Materials Needed:

1 Lion Brand Mandala Yarn Chimera 590 yd / 5.3 oz

Size H (5 mm) crochet hook

Tapestry needle

Scissors

Abbreviations:

RS right side

ch chain

dc double crochet

st stitch

blo back loop only

Notes about pattern:

Ch 2 does not count as stitch

Stitches in the main body of the cowl will be worked in the back loop only (blo)

Approximate measurements:  Beginning chain – 22″ length x 26″ long before sewing ends together.  Use these measurements if you wish to use another size yarn.

Ch 92

Row 1 (RS) dc in 3rd ch from hook and each ch across to end.  Turn (90)

Row 2 ch 2, (in blo) dc in same st and next 74 st leaving last 15 st unworked.  Turn (75)

Row 3 ch 2, (in blo) dc in same st and each st to end, ch 17.  Turn (75 st + 17 chs)

Row 4 dc in 3rd ch from hook and in each of the next 14 chains, dc (in blo) in next 75 st, ch 17.  Turn (90 st + 17 ch)

Row 5 dc in 3rd ch from hook and in each of the next 14 chains, dc (in blo) in next 75 st, leaving last 15 sts unworked.  Turn (90)

Repeat rows 2, 3, 4 and 5 in order until you have only enough yarn left to sew seam together.  With RS together, sew seam.