It never ceases to amaze me how fast the colors of the leaves change from Summer to Autumn. Around the autumn equinox, the leaves start displaying their autumnal colors and brighten our days as we adjust to the cooler weather and shorter days. 

The tonal and earthy colors of the yarn in the Autumnal Leaves Cowl represent the changing colors of the leaves in Autumn to me. It will be there to provide me warmth during the cold season ahead and also to remind me of the bright colors of the leaves in Autumn.  

The Autumnal Leaves Cowl is knit bottom up and in-the-round in a simple textured pattern with two strands of the same yarn held together. The cowl narrows slightly at the top for a cozier fit around the neck.

Yarn: Yarn Bee Authentic™ Hand-dyed Tonal Yarn in the chestnut ember colorway 
Knitting Needles: US #4, #5 and US #6 16-inch or more circular needles; US #7 knitting needles for the cable cast on 
Tapestry needle to weave in ends
Gauge: 6 stitches per inch in pattern stitch after blocking with US #6 knitting needles
Abbreviations:
K: Knit
P: Purl
BOR: beginning of round marker
yo: yarn over
psso: pass the slipped stitch over (the yarn over and knit stitch)
[…]: stitch pattern repeats

The Autumnal Leaves Cowl Pattern (text and image for personal use only)

With US #7 knitting needles cast on 128 stitches using the cable cast on method
Slip all the stitches on US #5 16-inch circular knitting needles 
Place a BOR marker and making sure yarn is not twisted, join the round by knitting the rib stitch round
Rib Stitch Round: K2, P2 till the BOR marker, slip BOR marker
Repeat Rib Stitch Round, eleven more times

Change to US #6 16-inch circular needles and knit the textured pattern:
Round 1: [slip 1 stitch purlwise with the working yarn in back, yo, K1, psso over yo and knit stitch, K2] repeat […] till the BOR marker, slip BOR marker
Round 2: Knit all stitches till BOR marker, slip BOR marker
Round 3: Repeat Round 1
Round 4: Repeat Round 2
Round 5: [K2, slip 1 stitch purlwise with working yarn in back, yo, K1, psso over yo and knit stitch] repeat […] till BOR marker, slip BOR marker
Round 6: Knit all stitches till BOR marker, slip BOR marker
Round 7: Repeat Round 5 
Round 8: Repeat Round 6
Repeat Rounds 1 to 8, six more times

Change to US #5 circular knitting needles and knit
Round 1: [slip 1 stitch purlwise with working yarn in back, yo, K1, psso over yo and knit stitch, K2] repeat […] till the BOR marker, slip BOR marker
Round 2: Knit all stitches till BOR marker, slip BOR marker
Round 3: Repeat Round 1
Round 4: Repeat Round 2
Round 5: [K2, slip 1 stitch purlwise with working yarn in back, yo, K1, psso over yo and knit stitch] repeat […] till BOR marker, slip BOR marker
Round 6: Knit all stitches till BOR marker, slip BOR marker
Round 7: Repeat Round 5 
Round 8: Repeat Round 6
Repeat Rounds 1 to 3, one more time

Change to US #4 circular knitting needles and knit
Rib Stitch Round: K2, P2 till BOR marker, slip BOR marker
Repeat Rib Stitch Round, four more times
Bind off stitches with US #6 knitting needles

Weave in ends, wash and block cowl.

Happy Autumnal knitting!
~coffeeteaknits