No January Blues!

No January Blues! Cowl by Jenny Faifel

Project Overview

No January Blues! is a downloadable knitting pattern for a cowl designed by Jenny Faifel. This beginner-friendly project uses a two-color stranded knitting technique to create a cozy neckwear piece perfect for winter months. The cowl features a classic construction that works equally well for knitters new to colorwork as it does for experienced crafters looking for a quick, satisfying project.

What Is Being Made

This pattern creates a cowl—a tubular neckwear garment that can be worn looped around the neck for extra warmth and coverage. The finished cowl measures 22 inches in circumference and 23 inches in depth, making it a substantial, generous-sized cowl suitable for layering or wearing as a primary neck accessory. The depth allows for versatile styling options, from a single wrap to a double-wrapped look.

Knitting Techniques

The No January Blues! cowl employs stranded colorwork knitting, a technique where two colors of yarn are carried together throughout the project. The pattern uses a color-carrying method where the non-working color is twisted around the working yarn to maintain tension and prevent loose floats on the inside of the fabric. This technique creates a reversible, double-sided fabric with visual interest on both sides.

The cowl is worked in the round using circular needles, which allows for seamless construction and continuous colorwork without interruption. The pattern begins with a small cast-on in one color and builds outward, incorporating the second color as instructed in the pattern.

Stitches Used

• Garter stitch - the primary stitch structure, created by knitting every row (or every round when working circularly). Garter stitch produces a textured, reversible fabric with horizontal ridges.
• Kfb (knit front and back) - an increase stitch that creates two stitches from one by knitting into both the front and back of a single stitch
• Stranded colorwork stitches - standard knit stitches worked with alternating colors to create the two-color pattern

Yarn and Materials

This pattern is designed for DK weight yarn, though the pattern attributes indicate it can also be worked in aran or worsted weights for different fabric densities and finished sizes. The sample shown uses Brooklyn Tweed Arbor in the colorway Thaw for Color A and indigodragonfly DK Matter in OOAK for Color B.

Yarn requirements: You will need approximately 250 yards each of two DK weight yarns (colors A and B), with slightly more yardage needed of Color B. The sample uses 2 skeins of Brooklyn Tweed Arbor (approximately 120 yards per 50-gram skein) in Color A and 1 skein of indigodragonfly DK in Color B. Knitters are encouraged to raid their yarn stash for contrasting or coordinating shades, or to work the entire cowl in a single color if preferred.

Needles: The pattern calls for US#6/4.00mm circular needles in 24-inch length for the main fabric, with US#7/4.50mm needles listed as backup. The gauge is 20 stitches and 26 rows per 4-inch square when worked in garter stitch on US#6/4.00mm needles in blocked fabric. Achieving proper gauge is essential for obtaining the correct finished measurements.

Additional tools: A tapestry needle is required for weaving in ends and seaming any necessary sections.

Color Selection and Customization

The pattern encourages creative color choices, suggesting that contrasting or coordinating shades both work beautifully. Knitters are invited to explore their yarn stash to find colors that have been waiting to be used. For those preferring simplicity, the cowl can be worked entirely in a single color, eliminating the stranded colorwork element while maintaining the same stitch structure and finished dimensions.

Difficulty Level

Rated as a beginner pattern, No January Blues! is accessible to knitters new to colorwork. The use of garter stitch—one of the most fundamental knitting stitches—combined with straightforward color-carrying instructions makes this an ideal project for developing stranded knitting skills without overwhelming complexity.