Tri Cowl

I was recently working on testing a pattern for the lovely Aoibhe Ni on ravelry and took the opportunity to go stash diving in search of some yarn for the project (read I have no cash to go yarn shopping - woe is me!) and discovered a bundle of stylecraft merino I had bought on sale several years ago.  I have not stopped crocheting with it for a week or more and it has been turned into a tank top, a slouchy hat, and this cowl.  I had only 1 ball of the red I've used here so I decided a colourwork cowl was in order to stretch it out into a whole project.  I ended up stretching it out so far that I am now working on matching mitts (pattern to follow!).

The measurements for this cowl are 24" around and 5.5" deep, this can be adjusted by changing the length of the starting ch, as long as you start with an even number on the chain, the pattern should work fine!

So, for this project you will need:

50g dk weight yarn x 3 - in 3 different colours you think would look good together, I've gone for quite a loud combo of gunmetal grey (main colour MC), deep red (CC1) and cream (CC2), but I think this could look good in tonal shades too :) 

(My original yarn is Pure Luxury Merino by Stylecraft 119m/130yds per 50g ball, long since discontinued :(   A similar yarn to try would be Debbie Bliss' Cashmerino dk)

5mm hook

Stitches used:  Nothing too fancy, this is all sc and ch, but you will need to change colour at the end of each round by working the last YO and pull through in the next colour.

1.  In MC, ch120, sc in 2nd ch from hook and each ch across, changing to CC1 in last st (119)

(like the autumnal cowl, this could be worked in the round by joining the foundation ch with a sl. st and working in a continuous spiral, but as I like to work into the bottom bump for the sake of neatness I always end up with a twisted ch that I can never rectify no matter how many times I rip out my work and re-try!)
2.  Ch1, and without turning, check your work is not twisted and join to form a circle by working a sc in 2nd sc of row one (skip the first).  *Ch1, sk1, sc* around, changing to CC2 in last st of round

For this pattern, to keep the colour changes neat, on every second row I worked the last sc of the round into the first ch of the round in the same colour, this 'stepped' the colour changes and kept them in a straight line.

3. *Ch1, sk 1, sc* around, changing back to MC in last stitch of round

Continue in pattern until you have 30 rows completed (10 complete bands of each colour), in last stitch change to MC

31.  In MC, sc in each ch sp and each sc around, sl st to join round, fasten off and weave in ends.

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