Gulls and Slips Cowl, free crochet cowl pattern

This post includes:

◉ FREE Pattern: The entire written pattern for FREE.

◉ Video Tutorial: A helpful video going over the required materials and how to work each row in the cowl.

The Gulls and Slips crochet cowl is an intermediate crochet pattern designed to imitate the look of the gulls and garter knit stitch. You can crochet this stunning textured cowl by weaving a floater strand of yarn through your stitches as you crochet to leave floats behind. Later, you’ll come back and crochet those strands into place creating the beautifully textured arrows of the design.

Find a printer-friendly, PDF version of the Gulls and Slips Cowl at mandobug.com and on Ravelry.

The Cowl Construction

This crochet cowl is worked in the round from the bottom up and is easy to customize in size. I’ll be sharing the multiples you need to repeat the stitch pattern so you can customize the circumference of the cowl, as well as the multiple for the row repeats so you can easily customize the length of your cowl.

Choosing the Right Yarn

This project uses a category 4 medium worsted weight 100% acrylic yarn. I used Lion Brand Basic Stitch Premium which is now discontinued, but you can get Lion Brand Basic Stitch Anti Pilling which is a very close match. This fluffy worsted weight 100% acrylic yarn has a tight twist perfect for creating the crisp stitch definition to really make this stitch pattern pop. If this isn’t the right yarn for you, I recommend searching for a category 4 medium worsted weight yarn that has a high twist and a smooth texture. Yarns that have low twist or have a fuzzy halo will distract from the stitch pattern making it hard to see. This is also true for highly variegated yarns. I recommend avoiding those as well, unless you don’t mind the colors distracting from the overall pattern.

Gulls and Slips Cowl Details

Skill Level

Intermediate (uses complex stitches, simple shaping, and skilled tension control)

Finished Measurements

A – Circumference

20” (51 cm)

B – Length 

9” (23 cm)

Yarn Requirements

Worsted Weight (#4 Medium)

175 yds (165 m)

Suggested Yarn

1 skein Lion Brand Basic Stitch, 100% Acrylic,

185 yds (170 m) / 3.5 oz (100 g)

Hooks

US size K-10.5 (6.5 mm) hook or size needed to obtain gauge.

Notions

Tapestry Needle

Removable Stitch Marker (optional for marking the beginning of the round)

Gauge

16 stitches, 17 rows = 4” in Gulls and Slips stitch pattern (Body Rounds 2-4 repeated)  

Abbreviations  

ch(s) – chain(s)

blo – back loop only

fyf – floater yarn forward*

fyb – floater yarn back*

hdc – half double crochet

sl st – slip stitch

st(s) – stitch(es)

wc – waist coat*

wc1 uls – waist coat 1 under loose strand*

* see Special Stitches

Special Stitches

Need help with the Special Stitches?

All of these stitches are demonstrated in the Gulls and Slips stitch pattern video tutorial.

Waist Coat (wc)

Insert hook from front to back through the center of the two vertical posts (legs) of the single crochet being worked into, yarn over and pull up a loop, yarn over and draw through both loops on hook.

Floater Yarn Forward (fyf)

Move floater yarn from the back of work to the front under working yarn.

Floater Yarn Back (fyb)

Move floater yarn from the front of work to the back under working yarn.

Waist Coat 1 Under Loose Strand (wc1 uls)

Insert hook under floater yarn below, then through the center of the two vertical posts (legs) of the single crochet being worked into, yarn over and pull up a loop, yarn over and draw through both loops on hook.

Get the printer-friendly, PDF version of the Gulls and Slips Cowl at mandobug.com and on Ravelry.

Gulls and Slips Video Tutorial

Gulls and Slips Cowl Free Pattern

The Gulls and Slips Cowl is worked from the bottom up with a slip stitch border on the top and bottom. The body is created by using the Gulls and Slips stitch pattern. This pattern uses an unusual technique of weaving a second “floater” yarn in and out of your work on occasional rows. 

Pattern Notes  

• You need to use two different strands of yarn in some rounds. You can hand wind your yarn into two balls or you can wind it into a cake using a ball winder and pull from the inside and outside of the cake.
• Work all stitches loosely.
• Do not slip stitch to join at the end of the round.
• Use a stitch marker to keep track of the beginning of the round.
• For video support watch the Gulls and Slips Cowl video tutorial.

Bottom Border

Ch 80 (or any multiple of 8) loosely.

It is very important that you work ALL stitches in the entire pattern loosely. If any stitches are worked too tightly it becomes difficult to insert the hook into the correct spaces.

Round 1: Join to work in the round by working a slip stitch into the back bump of first chain, being careful not to twist the stitches, sl st in back bump of each chain around, do not slip stitch to join here and throughout pattern. Use a stitch marker to keep track of beginning of round.

Rounds 2 – 4: sl st in blo of each stitch around.

Body

Round 1: [sl st 3 in blo, sc 5 in blo] around. 

You will now join a second strand of “floater” yarn that will weave through the front and the back of your work creating “floats.” Be careful not to pull floats too tightly.

Round 2: Join a second strand of yarn underneath the working yarn with the tail in front, [sl st 3 in blo, fyf, wc 5, fyb] around.

Leave the floater yarn in the back, you won’t work with this yarn again until you repeat this round again later. 

Round 3: [slip stitch 3 in blo, wc 5] around.

Round 4: [slip stitch 3 in blo, wc 2, wc1 uls, wc 2] around.

Repeat Rounds 2 – 4 9 times using the connected floater strand in each repeat of Round 2 instead of joining a new one.

Cut floater yarn.

Repeat Round 3 once.

Top Border

Rounds 1-4: sl st in blo of each stitch around.

Finishing

Weave in ends using a tapestry needle. Block using preferred method, if desired.

Questions or Comments? 

Please email me at info@mandobug.com if you need additional pattern support.

Share your finished object on social media using @mandobug #gullsandslipscowl

Thank You!

Thank you for supporting me as a designer! And a huge thank you to my tech editor Fiat Fiber Arts!