When this Cross-hatched Cowl & Beanie set came into the office, I knew I had to make it! The style is super cute and Reflective is my new favorite yarn -- I love taking pictures with it, and the yarn itself is super soft and drapes well. I chose Grey as the main color for this set and Peacock as the accent color. While the model version is cute, it's a little too bright for me. The main stitch for both the beanie and the cowl is a shell stitch, where you work several stitches into one stitch then let them fan out into a shell shape as you skip a few stitches and repeat. The pattern is two rows long and you repeat it over and over for the main sections of the hat and the cowl. Pattern Round X: Work 2 double crochet, chain 2, single crochet into one stitch or chain 2 space. Move to the next and repeat around, joining the round with a slip stitch. Pattern Round Y: Work one single crochet, chain 2, 2 double crochet into one stitch or chain 2 space. Move to the next and repeat around, joining the round with a slip stitch. That's it! By repeating this simple pattern you'll be able to make this great set. Cowl To make the cowl, the instructions say to chain 150 and then join the chain with a slip stitch to make the round cowl, and do a row of half double crochet. I really hate counting chains, so I decided to do foundation half double crochet (fhdc) instead and then join into a circle. Fhdc allows you to work the chain and the first row or round of a piece at the same time. To make fhdc... Begin with a chain 3. Then do a yarn over, and insert hook in 3rd chain from hook. Yarn over, pull up a loop, yarn over, pull through 1st loop on hook (base chain made). Yarn over and pull through all 3 loops on hook (fhdc made). Yarn over and insert hook in last fhdc base chain. Yarn over, pull up a loop, yarn over, pull through 1st loop on hook (base chain made). Yarn over and pull through all 3 loops on hook (fhdc made). Repeat steps 4-6 for desired number of fhdc. After doing 150 fhdc, I had a long strip of stitches. I slip stitched the first and last stitch together to make a round. The bottom of the two ends of the round weren't flush since the slip stitch only connected the top (picture on left). I fixed this by sewing the bottom together before I wove in the end (picture on left) after doing a few rows of the pattern. Round 2 starts the shell pattern. There are two rows of the shell pattern: one with a (2 double crochet, chain 2, single crochet) pattern and one with the reverse, a (single crochet, chain 2, 2 double crochet) pattern. They seem complicated but you'll pick them up quickly! After you complete the shell rounds, you'll do a finishing round so your cowl has another smooth edge. You'll simply be doing two half double crochet stitches into the chain 2 spaces, as well as one half double crochet in between the shells, which smooths out the bumps created by the shells. To make it easier I've written out what round of the shell pattern you should be on and what color yarn you should be using in each round of the cowl. See the main pattern to learn how to start each round. Cowl Pattern simplifiedRound 1: Color A; half double crochet roundRound 2: Color A; *work 2 double crochet, chain 2, single crochet into one stitch, skip 2 stitches, repeat from * around and join round with a slip stitchRound 3: Color A; *work one single crochet, chain 2, 2 double crochet into chain 2 space, repeat from * around and join round with a slip stitchRound 4: Color A; *work 2 double crochet, chain 2, single crochet into chain 2 space repeat from * around and join round with a slip stitchRound 5: Color B; repeat Round 3Round 6: Color A; repeat Round 4Round 7: Color A; repeat Round 3Round 8: Color B; repeat Round 4Round 9: Color A; repeat Round 3Round 10: Color A; repeat Round 4Round 11: Color A; finishing round(Picture of cowl pattern on right. You work from the bottom of this picture up as you make the cowl.) Beanie The beanie starts off like most basic beanie patterns, by doing an adjustable ring or a chain 3 with a slip stitch join and then making a total of 12 double crochets (including the chain 3 to start the round). The second and third rounds are similar, continuing in double crochet and increasing first to 24 stitches for Round 2 and then 36 stitches for Round 3. In Round 4, however, you only increase to 42 stitches so you can make the beanie pattern. The beanie pattern is worked in the same method as the cowl pattern, repeating the shell rounds and then doing a finishing round. Beanie Pattern SimplifiedRound 1: Color A; 12 double crochetRound 2: Color A; 24 double crochetRound 3: Color A; 36 double crochetRound 4: Color A; 42 double crochetRound 5: Color A; *work 2 double crochet, chain 2, single crochet into one stitch, skip 2 stitches, repeat from * around and join round with a slip stitchRound 6: Color A; *work one single crochet, chain 2, 2 double crochet into chain 2 space, repeat from * around and join round with a slip stitchRound 7: Color A; *work 2 double crochet, chain 2, single crochet into chain 2 space repeat from * around and join round with a slip stitchRound 8: Color A; repeat Round 6Round 9: Color B; repeat Round 7Round 10: Color A; repeat Round 6Round 11: Color A; repeat Round 7Round 12: Color B; repeat Round 6Round 13: Color A; repeat Round 7Round 14: Color A; finishing roundIf you want your stripes to look different, you can change colors more often, or you can make the set in a single color. Just make sure you have enough yarn before you begin, since if you change colors you might need more or less of each color of yarn. (Picture of hat pattern on right. You work from the top of this picture down as you make the hat). I'm looking forward to cool weather again so I can wear this set!
