DIY Cowl Knitting Chart Inspired by Oaken in Disney's Frozen

Those of you who follow me regularly know that I love to knit up Disney patterns. And when I saw Frozen for the first time I just kept thinking about all the knitting that was possible from the patterns in the movie! Nordic design lends itself to that sort of knitting, but there are just SO MANY PATTERNS in the movie! I'll be busy for months.

The first project I've created is this wonderfully warm cowl inspired by Oaken. You remember him, right? Big summer blow-out! I loved his sweater from the start - it is a fabulous sort of ugly sweater that was just begging to be knit. I first designed the pattern using my trusty colored pencils and graph paper. And once I had the chart all drawn up, I realized that this pattern, having been originally though up and drawn by graphic designers, and not knitters, did not have the correct stitch count to be easily converted to an actual sweater. So I decided to go with something that wouldn't need any shaping or decreases/increases. A cowl was perfect. It can be knit in the round and then sewn together at the ends so no one has to see the backside of the fair isle! Perfect.

Except that the larger pattern with the two-color diamonds (circles) should really be knit intarsia. Well, I decided to go for it anyway. And while the intarsia was working I was getting frustrated with all the strands of yarn. I decided to knit it as I would fair isle, sort of making it up as I went along, holding three colors instead of two. As long as I remembered to wrap the floats it was just fine. And far less tangled! I didn't mind the extra thickness in back, as it's supposed to be keeping me warm and will be all bunched up around my neck anyway.

I really love the way this cowl turned out. Please forgive me for not having blocked it before taking the photo; but these carrots were destined for dinner and I really wanted to use them in the photo! If you are interested in my charts, you can find them at Tricksy Knitter in the shared charts section. I've also included them here for your personal use. If you knit anything with them I'd love to see it! Please be sure to tag me on Ravelry (@HarrisonAmy) or IG (@merryweatherscottage)!

Until next time, may all your days be filled with fairy dust!