Na Séasúir (Na Say Zur) means “the seasons” in Irish. Our family includes branches in Ireland on both sides. My grandparents were all born and grew up in County Cork, and my husband’s family is originally from Cavan and Donegal. This design reflects the seasons here on Tullymongan Farm in Hancock County, Maine, but with a nod to our heritage overseas, using yarn produced in Ireland.

We have a few “extra” seasons here in Maine, such as mud season, bug season, deer season and tourist season, overlapping with and part of the usual four seasons. I enjoyed translating these seasonal color palettes into a yarn story—have fun working this design as written, or change it up to reflect the seasons in your part of the world!

This colorwork cowl begins with a provisional cast on, is knit in the round, and is finished by grafting the two ends together, creating a long, closed tube with no wrong side.

If you carry each color along behind the work for a few sts both before and after it is needed, there will be very little finishing of ends required when the knitting is complete.

MEASUREMENTS: One Size—8.25-inch width (doubled fabric) and 68-inch circumference.

GAUGE: 29 sts and 26 rnds = 4”/10cm, measured over wet-blocked colorwork pattern.

NEEDLES: Choose a needle based on your preferred method of working small circumferences in the round. I used the magic-loop method and a 32-inch circular needle, but you could choose to use 2 circular needles or a 16” circular needle.

YARN REQUIREMENTS:
2 skeins each of Bruce (200 yds) and Birkin (180 yds)
1 skein each of the following, listed by yardage requirements:
80 yards: Hare, Smirr
70 yards: Cowslip, Garth, Hirst, Lochan and Stockiemuir
60 yards: Asphodel, Buckthorn, Cranachan, Tarbet
50 yards: Horseback Brown
40 yards: Ardlui, Ardnamurchan, Gloamin’
30 yards: Campion

SKILLS USED: working in the round, using a chart, 2-color colorwork, grafting (Kitchener), provisional cast-on.