This year at the New Jersey Sheep and Fiber Festival, I was happy to see Marian of the Marianted Yarns since it was her last time vending there. A few years ago, I bought a Practicality 75/25 (superwash merino/nylon) fingering weight skein in the Beeswax colorway from her. I wanted another skein in that colorway this year, but it was unavailable. Instead, I chose the Honeycomb colorway and purchased it. Both colors remind me of the autumn leaves in my yard. I will miss Marianated Yarns next year, but the Autumn Leaves Cowl will help me remember this wonderful day at the festival.

The Autumn Leaves Cowl is crocheted back and forth, holding two strands of the same colorway of yarn together. The single crochet V stitch pattern is repeated several times, with alternating colorways every 2 rows. A row of crochet moss stitch is made from the right side to the left. This helps flatten the bump from the V stitch cluster. A row of crochet moss stitch is also made on the foundation chain edge, starting at the slip knot stitch. The 2 edges are then joined using the crochet zig-zag join method. Lastly, the Autumn Leaves Cowl is completed with a crochet moss stitch border. This border is on both the top and bottom edges of the cowl.

The Autumn Leaves Cowl Pattern (text and images for personal use only)

Materials Needed:
Yarn: Marianted Yarns in Beeswax and Honeycomb colorways (1 skein each)
Tapestry needle to weave in ends
Gauge: 4 stitches per inch in the single crochet V stitch pattern
Crochet hook: US size F-5 or 3.75 mm for the single crochet V stitch pattern. US size E-4 or 3.5 mm for the top and US size G6 or 4.00 mm for the bottom crochet moss stitch border edges

Abbreviations:
sc: single crochet
hdc: half double crochet
RS: right side
WS: wrong side
[…]: pattern repeat

Crochet Skill Level: Basic level with single crochet, half double crochet and slip stitches 

Holding two strands of Beeswax colorway yarn together, make a slip knot (How to Slip Knot) and with US size F-5 (3.75 mm) crochet hook chain 47 stitches (How to Crochet Chain). 

Row 1 (RS): With the Beeswax colorway – Skip the first chain from the hook, and make a hdc (How to Half Double Crochet) in the back of the second chain (the purl bump) from the hook. Optional: You can also make the hdc on the top strand of the second chain stitch,
[Skip two chains and sc (How to Single Crochet) in the next chain (back of the stitch or the top strand of the stitch), chain 2, sc again in the same stitch],
Repeat […] till three stitches left,
Make a hdc in the last stitch of the foundation chain (slip knot stitch), chain 1 and turn

Row 2 (WS): With the Beeswax colorway – Make a hdc in the second chain from the hook,
[Make a sc in the next chain 2 space of the single crochet V stitch, chain 2, and sc again in the same chain 2 space], 
Repeat […] for the chain 2 spaces in the row till the last stitch,
In the last stitch, make a hdc, attach two strands of the Honeycomb colorway and with it chain 1, turn

Row 3 (RS): With the two strands of the Honeycomb colorway – make a hdc in the second stitch from the hook,
[Make a sc in the next chain 2 space of the single crochet V stitch, chain 2, and sc again in the same chain 2 space], 
Repeat […] for the chain 2 spaces in the row till the last stitch,
In the last stitch, make a hdc, chain 1 and turn

Row 4 (WS): With the two strands of the Honeycomb colorway – make a hdc in the second stitch from the hook,
[Make a sc in the next chain 2 space of the single crochet V stitch, chain 2, and sc again in the same chain 2 space], 
Repeat […] for the chain 2 spaces in the row till the last stitch,
In the last stitch, make a hdc, change to two strands of Beeswax colorway and with it chain 1, turn

Row 5 (RS): With the Beeswax colorway – Make a hdc in the second chain from the hook,
[Make a sc in the next chain 2 space of the single crochet V stitch, chain 2, and sc again in the same chain 2 space], 
Repeat […] for the chain 2 spaces in the row till the last stitch,
In the last stitch, make a hdc, chain 1, turn 

Row 6 (WS):With the Beeswax colorway – Make a hdc in the second chain from the hook,
[Make a sc in the next chain 2 space of the single crochet V stitch, chain 2, and sc again in the same chain 2 space], 
Repeat […] for the chain 2 spaces in the row till the last stitch,
In the last stitch, make a hdc, change to two strands of the Honeycomb colorway and with it chain 1, turn

Repeat Rows 3 to 6, twenty-five more times. Cut yarn (Beeswax colorway) and pull through the last stitch

Joining the Foundation Chain Edge to the Bind off (last row) Edge:

The Bind off (last row) Edge –
With 2 strands of the Honeycomb colorway yarn, crochet one row of the moss stitch, [sc into the stitch between the V stitch clusters, chain 1, sc into the next stitch between the V stitch clusters], repeat […] all along the bind off edge row. This is to flatten the V stitch cluster bumps of the last row (bind off edge) (see image below)

Cut yarn and pull through the last stitch

Foundation Chain Edge –
With 2 strands of the Honeycomb colorway yarn, crochet one row of the moss stitch to the foundation chain edge (see image below)

Cut yarn and pull through the last stitch.

With 2 strands of the Honeycomb colorway yarn, make a slip knot and pull the slip knot through the last crochet moss stitch on the left side (see image below) and chain 1

Make a crochet zig zag* join going from the left to the right side of the cowl

Crochet Moss Stitch for the Top Edge Border:
Continuing with the Honeycomb colorway yarn, change to US size E-4 (3.5 mm) crochet hook. Begin with the last stitch of the crochet zig zag join (beginning of round).

Round 1: [sc, chain 1, skip the next stitch], repeat […] all along the right side (top edge) of the cowl
Round 2: [sc in the chain 1 space, chain, sc in the next chain 1 space], repeat […] till the end of the round
Rounds 3 and 4: Repeat Round 2
Round 5: Repeat Round 2 till the beginning of round. Slip stitch into the first stitch of the round, cut yarn and pull yarn through

Crochet Moss Stitch for the Bottom Edge Border:
With 2 strands of Honeycomb colorway yarn and US size G-6 (4.0 mm) crochet hook, make a slip knot. Insert hook into the first stitch of the crochet zig zag join and pull it through, chain 1 (beginning of round)

Round 1: [sc, chain 2, skip the next stitch], repeat […] all along the bottom edge of the cowl
Round 2: [sc in the chain 2 space, chain 2, sc in the next chain 2 space], repeat […] till the end of the round
Rounds 3 and 4: Repeat Round 2
Round 5: Repeat Round 2 till the beginning of round. Slip stitch into the first stitch of the round, cut yarn and pull yarn through

Weave in the ends, wash and block to complete the Autumn Leaves Cowl

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* how to do a crochet zig zag join (see below)