I was this close (holding fingers a tiny bit apart) to publishing this pattern last week- but then I had a baby a little earlier than expected! Introducing the Xanadu Snowflake Cowl:

This is knit up in Bijou Basin Ranch’s 100% cashmere light fingering yarn. It’s a dream to wear up close around your neck (really, is there anything more awesome in winter than cashmere at your throat?), with a lovely halo that doesn’t obscure the stranded snowflake design. I knit this one with one skein each of Mocha and Natural colourways, but there are lots of great combos you could choose!

The cowl is knit entirely in the round, with a provisional cast on that is unzipped at the end and grafted together (although you could work a 3 needle bind off for all but the last stitch, if you prefer). The pattern includes additional notes for ensuring consistent colour dominance when knitting with two colours, and how to ‘catch; longer floats when working with a chart like this. The design is fully charted, and I’m really pleased with how the snowflakes came out- light and delicate, just like the yarn.

The cowl pattern is $6 (CAN), and you can get it right now on Ravelry:

And for fun, here is a photo of me with a squirrel! I swear, if I had a bag of peanuts, I think I could have convinced him to pose with me. He was a pretty tame squirrel.