Electric Sky Cowl

The Story:
Inspired by my love of EDM music and my dream to one time, go to EDC in Las Vegas, this cowl is my love letter to that. The sample piece was used using a yarn that is UV reactive and combined with the black, it gives that bright lights against the night sky vibe. This cowl works up easily, seamlessly, and is perfect for anyone looking to add some flair to their wardrobe. 

What You’ll Need:

• 4mm hook

• 520 yds Fingering/Sock weight yarn. Color A uses 280 yds, and color B uses 230 yds. 

• Tapestry Needle

• Stitch markers 

• Scissors

Skills/Techniques Needed:

• sc - single crochet

• ldc - long double crochet - work a double crochet in the chain space two rows down, encapsulating the chain stitches from the previous row. 

• sl st - slip stitch

• fhdc - foundation half double crochet (See tutorial video)

• hdc - half double crochet

• yoslst - yarn over slip stitch (See tutorial video)

• ch - chain 

• Invisible join - remove your hook and place it from the back of the stitch to the front, pulling the working loop through. For this pattern, please watch the video as it has a nuance that is important for the color changes in the pattern. 

• 3LO - work in the 3rd loop of the stitches from the previous row

Tips & Tricks

• If you do not feel comfortable doing foundation half-double crochet, you can chain 160, without twisting the chain, join with a slip stitch and then chain 1 and hdc around. Join the same way as in the pattern. 

• If you do not feel comfortable trying the yoslst, you can work a regular sl st very loosely around. It will not look exactly like the pattern example, but it will be close enough. I highly encourage you to try the new techniques and stitches!

• For the long double crochet, make sure to encapsulate the chains from the last two rows. This will give the proper effect. 

• If you are working with mini-skeins, I change out the color every third repeat 

for the color I’m doing the mini-skeins with. For me, that is color B. So I did A, B, A, B, A, B, and then after that, I would cut the yarn and then join the new mini skein on the next color B rows. I did this with 5 mini skeins of yarn for the example using those. 

• The ch 1 at the start of each row does not count as a stitch. For row 9 of the repeat, this means you do two chains at the start of the row. At the end of that row, you will work your color join in the second chain you made. 

• Any ch 1 within the pattern that is not at the beginning of a row counts as a stitch. 

• This cowl is worked in a multiple of 4. If you wish to add width to the cowl, you can add any multiple of 4 to the starting row. 

• The cowl can be made as high as you would like. Just continue to do the repeat section until you are happy with the height and then move to the finishing edge. You can also shorten the height by removing repeats. As long as you end on row 8 of the repeat, you can move to the finishing edge rows. 

• Any changes to the size will change the amount of yarn needed. As this pattern uses less than a skein per color, if you use 100g skeins/mini-skein sets, you can add height and width with some comfort. 

• When doing your starting row, it is helpful to place a stitch marker every 10 stitches. This way you can stay on track with your counting and if you lose your place, you only need to count back to the last stitch marker. 

• It is also helpful to place a stitch marker in the first stitch of every row. If you are working with darker yarn, it will help immensely with finding your first stitch to join to it. 

Reverse Invis Join (Color Change) - Regular Invis Join - Foundation HDC - YOSLST

Gauge:

Work rows of double crochet. Chain 27, turn, in the third chain from the hook, start working dc along the chain. Chain 2, turn, work the row of dc. Work rows of dc  in this manner until you have 12 rows. 

Use the measurement for the way you will be finishing your final cowl. If you are going to block it, use the blocked measurements for the gauge and block the gauge swatch before measuring. 

4in(10cm)x4in(10 cm) = 

Unblocked: 16 stitches by 10 rows

Blocked: 13 stitches by 9 rows 

Pattern:

• Row 1: fhdc 160. Join with an invisible join DO NOT TURN

• Row 2: ch 1, yoslst 3LO around in each stitch. Join with an invisible join DO NOT TURN

• Row 3: ch 1, sc 3LO around in each stitch. Join with a sl st DO NOT TURN

• Row 4: ch 1, *3 sc, ch 1, sk 1*. Repeat from * to * until the end. Join with a sl st. TURN

• Row 5: ch 1, *ch 1, sk st, 3 sc* Repeat from * to * until the end. Join with an invisible join, pulling color B through to become the working yarn. TURN

• Row 6: ch 1, sc, *ch 1, sk 1, sc, ldc into the ch space from two rows down, sc*. Repeat from * to * until 3 sts remain. ch 1, sc, ldc. Join with a sl st. TURN

• Row 7: ch 1, 2 sc, *ch 1, sk 1, 3 sc*. Repeat * to * until 2 sts remain. ch 1 sk 1, sc. Join with invis join, pulling color A through to become the working yarn. TURN

• Row 8: ch1, *sc,  ldc into the ch space from two rows down, sc, ch 1, sk 1* Repeat from * to * until the end. Join with a sl st. TURN

• Row 9: ch 1, *ch 1, sk 1, 3 sc* Repeat from * to * until the end. Join with an invisible join, pulling color B through to become the working yarn. TURN

Repeat rows 6-9 14 times, or until the desired length, ending on row 8 of the repeat. I did 64 total rows before moving to the finishing rows. 

Move to the finishing rows. 

Finishing Rows:

• Row 65: ch 1, sc in each stitch around. Join with a sl st. TURN

• Row 66: ch 1, hdc in each stitch around. Join with an invisible join. DO NOT TURN

• Row 67: ch 1, yoslst 3LO in each stitch around. Join with an invisible join. DO NOT TURN

• Row 68: ch 1, sc 3LO in each stitch around. Join with a sl st. Fasten off and weave in ends.