Octopus Cowl

Soft, cozy, covered in octopuses: what more could you want in a cowl? Worked in the 

round using stranded colourwork, the Octopus Cowl lets you show your love for these 

fascinating creatures while keeping your neck toasty warm. The pattern includes tips 

for choosing your yarn, plus links to tutorials showing how to trap long floats in 

stranded colourwork. To make the Octopus Cowl, you will need to know how to do 

stranded colourwork from charts.

Kits available at Beehive Wool Shop.

Size

Circumference: 61 cm/24 in; depth: 24 cm/9.5 in

Yarn

MC: Small Bird Workshop Dunlin (100% British wool; 400 m/436 yds per 100 g/3.6 oz.): 1 skein (shown in Evensong)

CC: Brook Farm Fingering (100% British wool; 420 m/458 yds per 100 g/3.6 oz.): 1 skein (shown in Bishopdale)

Needles

3 mm/US 2.5 16 in/40 cm to 24 in/60 cm circular needle, or size needed for correct gauge

2.75 mm/US 2 16 in/40 cm to 24 in/60 cm circular needle, or one size smaller than gauge needle.

Note: At this needle size, the US/metric conversion is inconsistent. I recommend using the metric size as a starting point for swatching.

Gauge

36 sts & 40 rnds = 4 in/10cm in stranded colourwork on larger needles, worked in the round and blocked

Recommended stockinette gauge for these yarns: 26 sts = 4 in/10 cm in stockinette stitch on 3.25 mm/US 3 needles, worked flat and blocked

In order to match the suggested dimensions, take time to check your gauge.

Notions

3 stitch markers (1 for beginning of round + 2 more); yarn needle

About the yarn

Small Bird Workshop Dunlin and Brook Farm Fingering are both woolen-spun, fingering weight, 2-ply yarns made from 100% non-superwash wool. Dunlin and Brook Farm Fingering are soft, springy yarns that make a cushy, warm, cohesive, fabric in stranded colourwork. The stitches plump up and nestle together with washing, making this an excellent yarn for this project. Dunlin and Brook Farm Fingering are available at

beehivewoolshop.com.

If you’re substituting yarn, look for a springy, fingering weight yarn that gives a cohesive (but not stiff) fabric at the pattern’s gauge and that is comfortable against your neck. You will need approximately 250 yds/230 m of MC and 135 yds/125 m of CC.