I've been wanting to try out this woven crochet technique since I first saw it (I don't remember where I saw it first, but this link is where I was reminded of it recently). I decided it would look great as a soft cowl. This pattern is pretty basic and soothing to crochet as it is the same thing over and over again.

I really like how the green and black turned out and as Jessyratfink pointed out, it kinda makes you think of TMNT!

Instructable 301

Step 1: Supplies

Supplies:

Yarn
- Base yarn that is 4 (Medium) - I'm using 100% Cotton Sugar'N Cream Black
- Thicker fluffy yarn that is 5 (Bulky) or 6 (super Bulky) weight - mine is from a thrift shop so I am unsure of what it is, you can also try doubling up another yarn, just make sure it is soft.
Crochet Needles
- I/9 5.5mm - I used this for my black 100% cotton base
- K/10.5 6.5mm - I used this with my green (and black) fluffy chains

You'll also need things like scissors and possibly a measuring tape.

Step 2: Cowl Base

Let's start with the cowl base. Written directions down below for those who want it otherwise I'll try to walk through it.

Crochet a chain that is a length that you can comfortably slip it over your neck and off again (if yours is like mine, it won't have a lot of stretch so make sure it's a little loose). Your stitch count needs to be a multiple of 4, so I did 96, but also 100, 92, 88, etc would work. Mine was about 21" long.

Once it is as long as you want it, slip stitch into the first stitch to close the ring/cowl.

Crochet 4 stitches (the first 3 stitches are your first double crochet and the 4th stitch counts as just a stitch).

Skip the first stitch and double crochet into the next stitch. (the blue stick is pointing to the skipped stitch)

Chain 1.

Skip a stitch and double crochet into the next stitch.

Chain one.

Now repeat this pattern around of double crochet and chaining one.

Written Directions:

Ch. 96 (or another amount that is a multiple of 4) Sl.St. into the first stitch to make a large ring
Ch. 4 (the first 3 sts. is your first DC and the 4th stitch is just a stitch)
Skip next stitch, DC into next stitch
Chain 1
Repeat 3 and 4 around until you get to the beginning

You NEED to end up with an even number of double crochets going around so when you weave the chain you make later, the ends will match up.

When you get back to the beginning, slip stitch into the 3rd stitch of the first faux double crochet you created. You do the 3rd so that the 4th can still count as a chain 1.

Step 3: Finish Cowl

Continue doing this pattern for each row until it is the size you want it.

I did 16 rows which is about 9" inches.

Step 4: Crocheting Chains

Now you need to crochet your chains. Like I said, my cowl is 16 rows tall so I need 16 rows.

The number of chains you crochet doesn't matter, you just need it to be long enough that you can weave it all the way around the cowl and tie the ends together, so mine needed to be about 22" to be safe. Go longer if you can so they don't end up too short. That happened for one or two of mine and they were unusable then :(

I actually ran out of the green that I was just using up, so I have 14 green and 2 black chains.

Once you have them all, you can move onto the next step.

(You could probably do one long chain and go round and round and round but I wanted mine uniform and neat so I did one row at a time.)

Step 5: Weave Chains

Now you can weave through your crochet chains. As long as you had an even number of DC you'll be able to smoothly thread them and they'll match up at the end.

I wish I had a nice way to say to connect them, but I don't. I got frustrated and finally just tied the ends together and tried to hide the tie behind the DC stitch so it was slightly noticeable on the inside, but not the outside.