The Sonoran Cowl is now available! The Sonoran Cowl combines luxury yarn with simple cables to evoke the living tapestry and beauty of the Sonoran Desert.
Named after one of my favorite places on the planet. The texture of this cowl reminds me the interconnection between every living thing in the Sonoran Desert. The huge saguaro cactus depends on the palo verde trees or the creosote bushes to survive long enough to grow, the prickly pear feed the coyote and javelinas and desert wrens who knock seeds to the ground for propagation, the wildflowers only bloom after rains and depend on this same type of help from the desert dwellers with a more urgent need since they only exist for as long as there is enough water for the plants, the humans depend on the saguaros and prickly pears and other vegetation to help conserve and protect the desert during the monsoon rains now and in the past for their very survival. All living things in the Sonoran Desert or any desert are interconnected in a way that is somehow more visible to us against the stark backdrop. And that is such an important lesson for all life. Sometimes it is hard to fathom that it all matters, the choices we make and how we live our lives. But in the desert it plays out for all to see.
This cowl also reminds me of the baskets and pottery found throughout the region. This sample is worked in Knit Picks Gloss DK in the color Doe and used 90 g or about 225 yards. The Sonoran Cowl measures about 26″ [66 cm] around by 9″ [23 cm] tall and calls for 240 yards DK weight yarn (I always estimate up in my patterns on the amount of yarn suggested since it is never fun to lose at yarn chicken!)
Photo thanks to Knit Picks 
Photo thanks to Knit Picks 
Originally published in Little Luxuries by Knit Picks, the rights have released back to me so I’m now free to republish it! I’ve reworked and updated the pattern and formatting!
This final photo is truth in photography. I’m not living in the Sonoran Desert right now (waiting for my boys to finish high school in place). And I don’t have a trip there planned in the near future (sigh). So instead I tried to capture the pure blue of the Sonoran skies on a gravel road in the middle of the Midwest.
The Sonoran Cowl is available at Ravelry now and will be available through other venues later this year!
