Three-Turn Cowl Knitting Pattern

Here in the Caribbean, it's definitely not knitting weather outside.  Lucky for me, though, it's always knitting weather inside ice rinks, no matter where in the world they're located!

With that in mind, I whipped up a chunky cowl for myself, and I'm loving wearing it at the rink.

Before I started knitting this cowl, I played around with various stitch designs in my notebook and finally settled on a pattern with three vertical knit stitches and one purl stitch in between them.

You can see the way I drew out the pattern in the picture below.  I used little Vs to represent the knit stitches and dashes to represent the purl stitches.

When I make up my own patterns, I almost always draw a diagram like this before I start knitting.  Do you ever make up your own patterns too?  If so, do you draw diagrams too, or do you just feel it out with your needles in your hands?

Anyway, I named this project after a basic skating move, the three-turn, because I made it to wear during rehearsals, warmup ice time, and general hanging out by the ice (which I do a lot). I picked that particular skating move because it ties in with the three vertical stitches in the stitch pattern.  Get it?

Here are the details about the Three-Turn Cowl.

Materials:
1.  One skein (81 yards) super bulky yarn (I used Lion Brand Hometown USA yarn in Dallas Grey)
2.  US Size 15 (10mm) circular needles with a 16" length
3.  Scissors
4.  Tapestry needle to weave in ends

Gage:
1 inch equals 2 stitches

Pattern:
Cast on 40 stitches and join in the round, being careful not to twist the stitches.

First Garter Stitch Border:
Round 1: knit
Round 2: purl
Round 3: knit
Round 4: purl

Body of Scarf:
Round 1: knit
Round 2: (knit 1, purl 1) repeat
Round 3: knit
Round 4: (purl 1, knit 1) repeat
Repeat rounds 1-4 until your cowl measures 7 inches long (including the first garter stitch border)

Second Garter Stitch Border:
Repeat rounds 1-4 of the first garter stitch border

Bind off knitwise.

Happy knitting!
xoxo
Laura