When I sat down with the first skein of our new Sew Steamboat yarn, I knew the pattern needed to celebrate the woman who made it happen: my friend and business partner, Lynn Wunder. (Plus, who could resist that name?!)

A warm (must be warm with our frigid 40-below-zero temps in the darkest moments of winter) and completely reversible cabled cowl emerged from my imagination. A cable line filled with x’s and o’s displayed my love for the new yarn, and the herringbone pattern dotted with bobbles combined traditional aran patterns. Reversing the piece, the two-color honeycomb cable turned into modern polka dots, bubbling fluffy across the field.

Knitting up this cowl takes you in two different directions, knitting flat and in the round. Since the whole thing folds over, your ends remain hidden. The additional structure of the two layers holds the piece upright against your neck for maximum warmth.

This cowl uses three different colors of yarn, two skeins of color A, one of color B, and one of color C. The original colors in the Sew Steamboat yarn (70% wool/30% alpaca) are all natural colors: champagne, cream, and milk chocolate. These colors range from light to dark tones. I used the midrange color for one side and contrasted the lightest and darkest tones on the stranded two-color cable side.

This pattern has been test-knitted and tech-edited. Some test-knitters used as little as 200 yards of color A, but most used somewhere around 300 yards.

Additional notions: stitch markers, tapestry needle, cable needle

Enjoy Lynn’s Wonder!