Released in 1995, Pocahontas centers on the brave and free-spirited daughter of the chief of the Powhatan tribe, whose courage, compassion, and wisdom beyond her years helps her people avoid a terrible war. The only Disney princess to be based loosely on a historical figure, Pocahontas’s approach to life is encapsulated in the Academy Award®-winning song “Colors of the Wind,” which, according to directors Mike Gabriel and Eric Goldberg and producer James Pentecost, helped shape the film’s “heart and soul.” Inspired by Native American poetry and folklore, composer Alan Menken declared “Colors of the Wind” one of the most important songs he had ever written, celebrating diversity, nature, and spirituality.

Inspired by Pocahontas’s iconic song, this cowl is started with a provisional cast on and knit in a tube with no visible wrong side, after which the live ends are seamlessly grafted together. Stranded colorwork leaf motifs dance around the doubly thick cowl and length can be easily added or removed for a longer or shorter version. Using a gradient yarn combined with a solid yarn, you can paint all the colors of the wind directly on your knitting needles.