A Lifeline
In knitting, a lifeline is a way to save your stitches if you make a mistake – an added piece of yarn that runs through every stitch of one row in case you need to unravel your knitting. But a lifeline can also be seen from a wider perspective. There are times when life unravels – something unforeseen has happened and we need time to adjust to the new situation. When life feels overwhelming, we need something that keeps us grounded and allows us to feel in control again: a lifeline. It could be the people around us - family and friends that help us though. It could be love, received from others or the love we give ourselves. It could be nature – being out for a walk and breathing in the fresh air.

The Lifeline Cowls are designed to help you – to remind you that difficult times will pass, with better times ahead. The cowls are there to snuggle into and keep warm, like a gentle hug around your neck. They can also be given to a loved one who might need a bit of love and support. These little gestures sometimes make a huge difference in someone’s life.
Knitting helps the troubled soul, so whether a Lifeline Cowl is for you or for someone else, I hope they will give comfort and eventually also happiness and joy.

Finished measurements: Cowl circumference (blocked): 49 cm/19⅓”; length: 30 cm/11¾”.

Materials used: 3 skeins of Iolair Yarn Lunga (40% superfine alpaca, 40% merino, 20% silk; 115 m/125 yds/50 g) or use any DK yarn as substitute; shown in colour C1-light grey (howlite-AJ1), C2-lichen yellow (wulfenite-V7) and C3-dark grey (hematite-AJ1d). A yarn kit is available from www.iolairyarn.com.

Gauge: 24 stitches and 26 rows = 10 cm/4” in pattern stitch, blocked

Needles and Notions:
• Gauge-size circular needle
• Stitch marker
• Tapestry needle
• Scissors
For reference: A 4.0 mm/US 6 size circular needle (40 cm/17¾“ length) was used to knit the cowl.

Construction notes: The Lifeline Cowls are knitted in the round in a variation of different stranded colour work motifs. You knit with two strands at the same time. A suggestion of which colour should be the dominant colour (the colour that creates the pattern and strands below the background colour) will be given in the instructions below and in the charts.