While I realize that every piece of carefully-crafted knitwear I have ever given my sister will spend its life in the basket of “winter extras” at our parents’ house in New England, waiting for an ill-prepared guest to request some wardrobe fortification, I still sucker myself into knitting for her. This cowl is the perfect example of gift knitting: mindless enough that I’m not stressed by making it, coupled with a yarn that’s thick enough for quick progress; a pattern that marks progress and makes pleasing shapes; and an excuse to use a precious skein of hand-dyed yarn from one of my very precious stash.