It’s amazing what you can do with simple stitches and a well-chosen yarn. Or, in the case of the White Caps Cowl from the Purl Bee, a couple of well-chosen yarns.

This striking cowl is simple stockinette stitch, with a bit of shaping, but it looks like so much more than that thanks to the yarns: a slubby cotton thick and thin and a smooth ribbon of silk. Alternating these two yarns not only makes stripes of color but of texture, and the slubby yarn and differing gauges means you get parts of the cowl that look more solid and parts that are more airy.

I love this piece in white but it would be lovely in any of the available colors. You could even amp up the contrast even more by choosing different colors in each fiber, if you wanted.

By the way, it turns out I’m not the only person in love with this piece: both of the yarns used to create it are out of stock at Purl Bee as I write this. Nothing wrong with being popular!

[Photo by the Purl Bee.]