Erna cowl

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Here is a pattern that I originally created in the spring this year. It is a cowl, crocheted in rounds, which means you never have to turn, you work with right side facing all the time.

Size: The cowl is 65 cm in circumference and 30 cm high.

Yarn: I have used Falkgarn Karamell (80% acrylic, 20% wool) in the colours 204 "vanilj" and 207 "persika" - 60 grams of each = 120 grams in total. You can use any worsted weight yarn.

Hook: 8 mm and 9 mm, preferably with a pointy tip. If you have a blunter hook, you can hold it "upside down" when you work the Erna stitch. Just to be sure this really works, I have used a normal blunt hook when I made this cowl!

Stitches used: chain stitch, slip stitch in the back loop only, "Erna stitch" (which is explained with pictures)
Abbreviations:
B = slip stitch in the back loop only

Start:
With the 8 mm hook and the lighter coloured yarn (or the yarn that you want for the pattern stitches), chain 80. Take the hook out of the loop, pull out the loop a bit or secure it in some way. Change to the darker coloured yarn (or the yarn you want for the "background"), make a slip knot and start at the beginning of your starting chain (working in the same direction): work slip stitches in the back bar of the starting chain. (picture here)

You may find it unusual to make the starting chain with a smaller hook than the rest of the work (it is usually the opposite way) but this is because this pattern makes the fabric contract a bit.

You will now have a long two-coloured tail, with both live loops in the same end.

Change to the 9 mm hook.
Hold the long tail like a circle, check that it is not twisted. To join it into a ring, put the hook in the loop of the lighter yarn and work one B in the first stitch of the background colour. Work one B in each stitch until you come all around.

When you reach the place where you have left the live loop of the background colour yarn, take your hook out and change to the other colour. With the background coloured yarn, work one round of B.

The whole item is then worked like this, in continuous rounds, one round of each colour, all the time with right side facing.

Pattern-round 1:
With the lighter coloured yarn.
Step one: work one B.

Step two: the Erna stitch. It is worked like a single crochet, but is not placed like a normal single crochet. First put your hook under the two loops you see in the picture above. It is the front loop of the next stitch and the front loop of a stitch in the previous round. The hook should come from below and upwards through these loops.
This can be difficult with a normal blunt hook, but you can do it with the pointier "lip" of the hook.
Pull up a loop, = two loops on hook, yarn over, pull through all loops on hook, = the Erna stitch completed.

Continue with one B, one Erna stitch until end of round.
It should look like this:

Take the hook out of the last loop, put it in the loop of the darker coloured yarn.

Background round.
With the darker coloured yarn, make one B in each stitch to the end of the round.

Pattern round 2:
Change again to the lighter coloured yarn. Work one B over each Erna stitch and one Erna stitch over each B of the previous pattern round. The arrows in the picture point to the where the Erna stitches should be placed. You can easily find the correct position by choosing the horisontal loop between the Erna stitches.

Continue with one background round and one pattern round until desired size.

The Erna stitch can also be made leaning in the other direction. You still choose the horisontal loop betweeen two Erna stitches, but the loop from the background round is the one to the left of the pattern round loop, as seen in the picture above.

I have made five pattern-rounds of each sort, then changed to the other, in this cowl, see below: (The first rounds roll up so you can see the inside, which I think is not a problem but a design feature.) In total there are 25 pattern rounds.

You can naturally make the whole item in only one sort of Erna stitch if you like, or any other combination you choose.

Finishing: Change to the 8 mm hook and work two rounds of B stitches, one of each colour. Weave in ends. Yes I know the start and finish will look a little uneven like this, but I don't really see it as a problem. The rolled bottom edge will hide the uneven start anyway.


Please notify me if there are errors in the pattern or parts that are difficult to understand, and I will try to correct it!