The One with all the Colors

Pattern available on Ravelry and Etsy.

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Have you ever had a really great circle of friends? You know, the kind of people you can get together with and know you’ll have a great time, even if it’s been years since you last saw each other?

That's the sort of thing I was imagining when I created this design.

And, of course, if you're a fan of the TV show Friends, you might get the reference in the pattern's name!

This cowl was originally designed as part of a Friends themed box curated by Leann of Forbidden Fiber Co. and I've got to tell you, I really had fun with it!

I learned a new to me technique (there's a video tutorial linked in the pattern!) that allowed me join panels together as I worked them so I was able to create this really fun striping effect with a simple vertical cable in each one.

And THEN, if you want to, you can join them all together into a circle, yes, just like a circle of your favorite friends, to create a cowl instead of a scarf - all while working the final panel. No sewing required!

It's such a cool technique and, honestly, I can't believe I haven't tried it again in another design yet! But I'm sure I'll come back to it.

Here, take a look:

Isn't it so cool!?

It's just so delightfully seamless!

I also love the way Leann faded these iconic Friends colors together by combining solid/tonal colors with speckled ones. They make a rather unconventional fade, this combination of colors, but I love the way it turned out!

These were my leftovers by the way.

So you could proooooobably make each panel a teeny tiny bit longer MAYBE (you'd have to add rows by pairs) but I wanted to err on the side of caution and not end up running out of yarn if one or two minis were a tad shorter than the others.

All right. Let's have a look at some of the specs. And then I'll tell you how you can modify them, of course!

STITCHES & TECHNIQUES:

• Double crochet

• Treble crochet

• Post stitches that create a tiny “cable” (defined in pattern)

• Join as you go (defined in pattern)

GAUGE:

First Panel should measure about 1.5” (4 cm) wide and 10.5” (26.5 cm) long, unblocked.

Wet blocking can easily stretch each panel’s width to 1.75” (4.5 cm) or more. I chose to gently block this piece and allow it to have a scalloped edge instead of stretching it out longer and blocking it to have a straight edge.

Finished measurements of sample after blocking were approximately 10.5” (26.5 cm) wide and 56” (142 cm) in circumference.

Gauge is not critical for this project. Please note that fabric may stretch in length with wear.

SUGGESTED MATERIALS:

• Fortitude Minis by Forbidden Fiber Co. (20 g, 87 yds (80 m)), fingering weight (1: super fine) yarn, 100% merino wool, 12 mini skeins: Witty Banter

• C/2 (2.75 mm) crochet hook

• stitch marker(s)

• scissors

• darning needle

Now, let's have a look at some pattern testers projects and spark some modification ideas!

Tested by Latonya Stewart

Tested by MeganMc (Rav link)

Tested by Christine Carrier

Tested by Allison

Tested by Louisa Saunders

Tested by Dawn Lambert

Tested by Keinaphels

Tested by Pam Brady

Tested by Toni Dufficy

Many MANY thanks to all of my pattern testers, including Dawn Lambert, Allison, Latonya Stewart, Kirsten McGrath, Pam Brady, Toni Dufficy, MeganMc, Louisa Saunders, Mary, Keinaphels, and Christine Carrier, as well as to my tech editor Catherine Whelan — I couldn’t do this without them!!

We have some really cool projects here!

Megan turned hers into a wrap by making her panels extra long using a sparkly worsted weight yarn. Latonya divided up the colors in a rainbow cake of a cotton and acrylic blend for her scarf. Allison modified hers to use some dk weight minis she had and was able to get two panels per mini for a cowl that measured about 8" wide and 40" around!

Louisa and Tove are both using some really nice solid colors for their cowls - one is Corriedale and the other is Alpaca! Toni is my stashbusting queen and she put together a stellar color combo with some minis from her stash to make that vibrant red, yellow, and blue cowl.

Christine used the Leading Men Fiber Arts year in review set (fab!) from a couple years ago and Pam's earth tones are giving me all the fall vibes with that warm brown and cream paired with olive green!

Oh and Dawn's cowl used another set from Forbidden Fiber Co—the 12 Days of Resistance. It totally reminds me of a handmade heirloom quilt!

So there you have it.

From sock weight to worsted weight (I bet you could do bulky, too), in all sorts of different color combos, for cowls, scarves, wraps - maybe even a blanket! The possibilities are pretty much endless with this one.

And don't let those tiny little cables intimidate you! Several of my amazing testers jumped into this project ready to learn new things and they rocked it. You will, too! No, seriously, there's a pretty extensive video tutorial that accompanies this pattern. It should probably be a class instead! But it's all yours.

So what are you waiting for? Go grab the pattern!

She's available on Ravelry as well as in my Etsy shop. And if you're still having trouble with it after working through the video tutorial? I'd love to help you figure it out in a private lesson on Zoom.

Oh and don't forget to tag me @crochetcetera on socials with hashtags #theonewithallthecolorscowl and #crochetcetera so I can see what you create.