Crochet joining in the Round: Easy Cowl Pattern

How to Join in the Round in Crochet

One of the reasons why, in my opinion, crochet is significantly easier and quicker than knitting is due to the ease of creating seamless objects or creating work in the round. In my earlier posts, I have talked about how to crochet the Single Crochet stitch. Here, I would like to introduce you to a world of crocheting in the round.
The following video covers the basics of joining stitches in the round in the base chain round and beyond. Even though the video shows the joining of a chain 4, the same method applies to any number of chains.



If you feel comfortable joining in the round, and doing the Single Crochet stitch, you are ready to create my EASY COWL pattern (PDF download available at Ravelry here).

For those of you who do not want a PDF file, here it goes!

Simple Snug Cowl

Beginner crochet pattern by Sarita Kumar
 

This cowl took me about 1.5 hours to complete and I used 1 skein of the Schoppel-Wolle Reggae Ombré #1659 yarn. This beautiful and thick yarn is self-striping and therefore lends itself as an accessory to a large variety of clothing options. I will be posting a matching HAT pattern on my blog soon.

You will need a size I hook and a yarn needle for weaving in ends.

I did not use a gauge for this pattern. I recommend using a check as you go method to ensure it fits around your head before you start Row 3.

PATTERN:

Row 1: Chain 70 and join last loop to the first chain with a slip stitch (SS) making sure you don't twist the chain. Place a marker in the SS.

Row 2: Start by doing a single crochet (SC) in each loop but don't join the last SC to the first SC. Move marker to the space between the last and first stitches.

Row 3: SC all around the 70 stitches and move marker to the end. (Make sure that the cowl will fit over your head. If not, go back to row 1 and increase the number of stitches accordingly.)

Rows 4-22: Repeat Row 3 (you can stop at your desired width).

Slip stitch into the stitch at the end of the marker and fasten off. Use the yarn needle to finish cleanly.

The picture looks a little different because I used the Chainless Foundation method to start the cowl and worked row 22 after turning my work to match the loop at the top.