I was recently on a mission to use up some leftover yarn and this little cowl was part of the resulting destash.

It is such a handy little cowl to wear, and was so quick and easy to knit, that I decided to share the pattern.

The cowl is made with chunky yarn and was knit on 8mm circular needles.

I used two totally different yarns, even the thicknesses were completely different.

You can use any chunky/super chunky yarn that you like as long as it loosely (or exactly) works with 8mm knitting needles.

Read on to find out more about the handle little cowl and to get the free knitting pattern.

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About the yarn used to make this cowl

First of all, the main yarn used to make this super useful chunky cowl has been sadly discontinued. It is an animal print effect yarn called Safari by the Stylecraft yarn company.

I once knit a pullover out of this awesome yarn. You can see a photo of that below. I was actually planning to try out some different colours and designs and then bam! Out of production not available for sale anywhere. Bring it back Stylecraft!

Anyway, if you would like to knit an animal print type cowl, there are two lovely patterns available on Etsy.

The Cheetah Print Cowl is a thick and sumptuous cowl with animal print worked by following a simple Fair Isle chart.

The Leopard Print Cowl is less bulky and uses two colours instead of three for a different but just as beautiful look.

The Handy Little Cowl Knitting Pattern

As already stated, you can knit the handy little cowl in any yarn. I think it would look lovely with a self striping yarn in between the plain moss stitch border bands. Lion Brand Homespun could be a good idea adding texture for this simple design. If you live in the UK, Deramores is the best place to find this yarn.

The cowl is called the handy little col because it is great for just throwing on for extra snugness. Highly recommended for windy days when your hair is looking a tad wild!

Materials and yarn used

Needles – 8mm circular needles.

Yarn: 

Main colour – self striping or self patterning chunky yarn, suitable for use with 6 or 7mm needles, approx 100g.

Contrast yarn – chunky yarn which is suitable for use with 6 to 8mm needles, approx 30g.

The yarns used for the cowl in the photo were Stylecraft Safari (main yarn) and Ice Yarns wool cord bulky (contrast yarn).

The pattern

With 8mm circular needles and contrast yarn, cast on 61 stitches.  

Being careful not to twist, join to work in the round.  You can use the cast on yarn end as a place marker.

Work 3 rounds of moss stitch  (k1,p1 across each round).

Switch to main yarn and work k stitch until piece measures 25cm from cast on edge.

Switch to contrast yarn and work 1 round of k stitch.

Work 3 rounds of moss stitch. Cast off in k stitch.

Weave all loose ends into reverse of cowl.

And that’s it! A very easy and fast to knit cowl.

I hope you enjoyed this post thanks so much for dropping by today!

Please do let me know if you are aware of any animal print effect yarn there so I can buy it by the bucket load many thanks!