Alpine Dreams Cowl

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**Sponsored Post: Yarn for this design was provided by Lion Brand Yarn.**

Hello there and Happy September!

I can’t believe that it is already September! August sure flew right by! But I’m glad September is here because that means that E’Claire Makery’s Fall Fashion Blog Hop is here!!! Wooohooo!

E’Claire Makery’s Fall Fashion Blog Hop

Claire has rounded up tons of amazingly talented designers to bring you amazing fall fashions to make and wear, from hats to scarves and more, you won’t want to miss it!

Each day for the entire month of September, you will have the opportunity to download a new FREE PDF Pattern from Ravelry. For full details and to grab the coupon code you’ll need at check-out on Ravelry, visit Claire’s Round-Up post, and while you’re there bookmark it and check back daily to see what designer and pattern are being featured each day! Or if you prefer, you can sign up on Claire’s post to receive daily email reminders.

I’m super excited to be participating in this blog hop, and humbled to be among such talented designers! And, in case you didn’t guess, today, Sept 2, 2020 is my feature day! Yay!!

Alpine Dreaming

It was such a happy coincidence that I had this pattern in the works when I heard about Claire’s blog hop. This is something that I’ve had in my head for a while now, since the release last season of my Alpine Dreams Beanie pattern, which you all loved so much!! I knew I had to replicate that beautiful fluffy texture to wear around my neck, and so, the idea for the cowl was born!

My friends at Lion Brand Yarn agreed to sponsor the design and sent me 4 cakes of the newest member of their Mandala line, Mandala Watercolors, to use for this cowl. You guys, it was AMAZING to work with. I loved it so much that after I finished this cowl, I went out and bought even more of it to work up another cowl in a different colorway!

I had my reservations about working with a bulky roving yarn, as roving yarns tend to be pretty delicate and frogging them isn’t very fun. But this yarn is a wool/acrylic/nylon blend, and that nylon gives it some strength because believe me, I definitely frogged during the design process! It held up beautifully! Dare I say, it was a dream to work with, get it? Alpine Dreams, dreamy yarn? Okay, ::ahem:: back to the point.

If you made my Alpine Dreams Beanie pattern below, then this will be a breeze!

Pssst! While I was writing up this pattern, I also gave the beanie pattern a refresh, especially the PDF version of it! I have updated the format, added size charts, tweaked a few things in the pattern and added a couple of modifications to account for a less bulky close, shorter pattern repeat and instructions on how to adapt it for a messy bun version!

If you purchased the PDF copy via Ravelry, check your messages because you should have seen an updated pattern sent out. If you purchased the PDF on Etsy, please DM me through Etsy Messages so that I can send you an updated copy!

Okay then, on to the good stuff!!

Alpine Dreams Cowl

by Hooks, Books, & Wanderlust

Materials List

4 cakes of Lion Brand Mandala Watercolors, shown in Quarry
6.5mm / K crochet hook
Tapestry needle
Scissors
Stitch marker (optional)

Stitches & Abbreviations (US Terms)

Chain (ch)
Skip (sk)
Slip Stit (sl st)
Double crochet (dc)
Foundation double crochet (Fdc) – full tutorial available here
Front Post Double Crochet (FPdc) – full tutorial available here
Back Post Double Crochet (BPdc) – full tutorial available here
Double Crochet 5 Together (dc5tog) – full tutorial available here

Finished Measurements

Average adult woman
16″ Dia x 11″ H / 41 cm Dia x 28 cm H

Gauge

4 in / 10.2 cm square = 10 dc x 6 rows

4 in / 10.2 cm square = 3 poofs wide x 6 rounds
Pattern Repeat = 2.5″ / 6.35 cm high

Notes

This pattern is written in US Standard terms and is classified as Intermediate.
Photo and video tutorials for the special stitches of this pattern are linked here: Foundation Double Crochet; Front Post Double Crochet; Back Post Double Crochet; Double Crochet 5 Together
- Please note that the Front Post and Back Post Double Crochet tutorials are shown individually, but in the pattern, they will be alternated front and back post to create ribbing.
This pattern is worked in joined rounds from the bottom up
This pattern can be altered for size or tension by changing your hook size up/down or increasing/decreasing the number of starting foundation stitches, so long as you end with a stitch multiple of 4. Just keep in mind that you will need more / less yarn respectively.
Chain stitches at beginning of rounds do not count as a stitch.
If you’d prefer a convenient, printable PDF version of this pattern, which includes all special stitch photo tutorials mentioned above (with links to video tutorials for each), as well as a helpful stitch chart for visual reference – available in the paid pattern only, visit my Etsy and Ravelry shops!
- BONUS: the paid version also includes instructions on how to adapt this to an ear warmer and cup cozy!

***An inexpensive, convenient printable version of this pattern is available for purchase in my Etsy and Ravelry stores, complete with full-color photo tutorials for all special stitches and linked to supplemental videos on my YouTube channel, as well as a helpful stitch chart and TWO modifications to adapt this pattern for an ear warmer and cup cozy. See the below photos.
Thank you for your support!***

Pattern

This pattern is worked in joined round from the bottom-up, using a combination of FPdc and dc5tog to create little poofs of texture throughout. Stitch counts are given in ( ) after the round instructions.

PART 1: BOTTOM RIBBING

You will start with a row of Fdc in a multiple of 4, approximately 30″ / 75 cm long, then join the first and last Fdc together using a slip stitch to begin working in rounds. Leave a long starting tail so that you will be able to sew the bottoms of your first Fdc and last Fdc of the round together at the base of those stitches. I recommend waiting until the end of R2 or the very end, just in case you need to frog back to the beginning, so that you don’t end up with a tangled mess.

R1: Leaving a long tail, Fdc 80. Turn. (80)

NOTE: Click here for a tutorial showing you how to make the Fdc.
NOTE: If you prefer to work a foundation chain in lieu of the foundation double crochet, ch 82, dc into the 3^rd ch from the hook and into each ch across. Turn. (80)

PRO TIP: Foundation chains tend to be tighter than body stitches, so I recommend going up a hook size JUST for the starting chain, if you choose that method.

PRO TIP: I find that using a stitch marker or two at certain stitch increments helps save time re-counting if I lose track of how many foundation stitches I’ve worked. I placed my marker at the halfway point to save myself time if I lost count.

Taking care to ensure you don’t twist your work, sl st to join the first Fdc to the last Fdc of the row. (80)

NOTE: You’ll notice a small gap appears at the bottom of your join, where the bottoms of the first and last Fdc of the round are not attached to one another. This is why we left a long tail at the start, so we can join it at the end of R2 or once we are done with the pattern.

NOTE: Now that you’re working in rounds, the “right side” of your fabric will always be facing you.

R2: Ch 2, *FPdc, BPdc, repeat from * around, sl st to join. (40 FPdc, 40 BPdc)

NOTE: To view a quick tutorial for the FPdc, click here.

NOTE: To view a quick tutorial for the BPdc, click here.

NOTE: If you’re happy with the circumference, and your stitch count is a multiple of 4, you may consider going on ahead and securing the bases of your first and last Fdc stitches using the long tail you left in R1.

PRO TIP: When you see an * in your row or round instructions, that indicates the stitch pattern to repeat across the row or around the round. In this case, you’ll alternate working FPdc and BPdc stitches for the entire round.

Securing the Bases

You may have noticed that after you joined your last Fdc to the first Fdc of the round in R1, you had a small gap remaining at the base of the stitches. That’s why we left that long tail at the start! You will definitely want to make sure you’ve no need to rip your work back to the beginning before you complete this step, otherwise, you’ll end up with a bit of a tangle.

We connect the bases by pulling the tail through the bottom ‘V’ of the last Fdc of the round, then loop it in under the bottom ‘V’ of the first Fdc of the round, repeating the process once to secure, then weaving in the tail later. I used my hook, but if you’re more comfortable using a tapestry needle, then do that instead.

PART 2: BODY

It’s time to begin creating that delicious texture! Using groups of 5 FPdc stitches worked around the post of a single stitch from the previous round, and dc5tog stitches across the tops of those same groups in the subsequent rounds, we will get those little poofs of cloud-like texture.

R3: Ch 2, *dc, sk 1, 5 FPdc next, sk 1, repeat from * around, sl st to join. (20 dc, 20 groups of 5-FPdc)

NOTE: You are working all 5 FPdc around the same post. This is what gives it dimension and that dreamy texture we are looking for. Doing this will result in small gaps, but they will be covered by the next round.

NOTE: Be warned that the 5 FPdc stitches kind of obscure the stitch you should skip, so don’t accidentally skip too many before making the dc to start your round repeat again.

PRO TIP: Because the chain stitches at the beginning of this row DO NOT count as a stitch, the first dc is worked into the stitch at the base of the chains.

R4: Ch 2,*5 FPdc, dc5tog next 5 stitches, repeat from * around, sl st to join. (20 groups of 5-FPdc, 20 dc5tog)

NOTE: To view a tutorial for the dc5tog, click here.

NOTE: Keep in mind, when beginning this round, that the previous round’s 5-FPdc may obscure the first dc you made in that round, so you’ll want to make sure you are working your 5-FPdc of this round around the correct stitch.

R5: Ch 2, * dc5tog next 5 stitches, [ch 1, dc, ch 1] next, repeat from * around, sl st to join. (20 dc5tog, 20 dc)

NOTE: That’s the first pattern repeat!

PRO TIP: When you see stitch instructions in brackets within your row/round instructions, that means you will work the series of stitches contained within the brackets into the next stitch.

PRO TIP: The words “pattern repeat” refer to the series of rows/rounds that are repeated over the course of the pattern, in this case, R3-5.

R6-17: Repeat R3-5 4 MORE times, for a total of 5 pattern repeats.

NOTE: When you work your repeat of R3, the “sk 1” will end up skipping the chain stitches worked in R5, meaning you’ll work your R4 groups of 5-FPdc around the post of the dc from the previous round.

PART 3: TOP RIBBING

With the bulk of the pattern complete, it’s time to create the ribbing around the top and finish up!

R18: Ch 2,dc in each stitch and ch-1 space around, sl st to join. (80)

R19: Ch 2, *FPdc, BPdc, repeat from * around, sl st to join, or use the invisible finish to hide the knot! (66 dc, 65 ch-1 sp)

NOTE: To review how to make a FPdc, click here.

NOTE: To review how to make a BPdc, click here.

Invisible Finish

This is a fun little trick to finish off your work that doesn’t show the tell-tale knot of the traditional slip stitch join and tie off.

Tie off, weave in ends! Don’t forget to connect the bottoms of the first and last Fdc from R1 if you didn’t already!

You did it! How about that texture!?! I bet you can’t stop running your hands over it! That texture is a reward for a job well done. Good job, you yarnie!

I hope you enjoyed this pattern and found it easy to follow! If not, or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask! Email me at HooksBooksAndWanderlust@gmail.com

I would LOVE to see your make! Should you choose to share, use the tag(s) #AlpineDreamsCowl and /or #LaBelleVieForMe to share your makes with me @HooksBooksWanderlust on Instagram and/or Facebook!

Happy Stitching!

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