First - everyone wins - I've got enough prizes to go around!  So if Stephanie will email me with her street address (everyone else's I've got) your prizes will be in the mail soon!

Second - I'm posting earlier this week because

we're going to a crafts fair this weekend.  That's Moe, Larry and Curly sitting atop a pile of fingerless mitts waiting to be labeled to go into the bin.  We're going to the "Believe" bazaar at St. Mary's of the Lake, the pre-eminent pre-Christmas crafts fair in Watkins Glen.

Third - the pattern for the cowls

The rainbow-colored one at the upper left is simple - I had a limited amount of this gorgeous multicolor eyelash yarn.  I cast on 14 stitches on size 11 needles, knitted in garter stitch until I ran out of yarn, bound off and sewed the bind off to the cast-on edge.   In a novelty yarn, you'll never see the stitches, so you might as well knit in garter stitch. 

And garter stitch also works in the other cowls.  The silky one used two strands of silk and silk-rayon yarn and size 11 needles; the blue one is a super-bulky chenille knitted on size 13 needles.  Instructions are for the blue cowl, with the multi-strand silky counts in parentheses. 

Cast on 19 (25) stitches and knit one row, using the tail yarn together with the yarn from the ball to double the beginning.  Really, you just need an odd number of stitches, at least 19, but you could use a LOT more.
Even rows: slip 1, K 2 together, K 6 (11) YO, K1, YO, K6 (11) K2 together, K1
Odd rows: slip first stitch, K across.

You can see by the picture the knitting quickly takes a pointed arrowhead shape.  I left that one squiggle of tail thread hanging out to remind me to I'm on an odd numbered row when the squiggle is to the right.  You can also see my knitting needles, which are the same size, don't actually match.  Which doesn't matter.

Keep knitting until

You've got about 22 inches done, then bind off.  Cut your yarn leaving a length for sewing.
Fit the pointy part at the end into the notch of the beginning and sew the scarf ends together.  Sew in that squiggle, its work is done.  As with the first one, if you've enthusiastically knitted to 26 inches or so, which couldn't happen with the first one because I ran out of yarn, you could alternatively give one end a twist to create a Moebius shape.

Note: the gifts of Christmas, as well as Moe's cousins and a bunch of other good stuff, will be at the shop for a Thanksgiving weekend crafts sale.   Which means between now and then - and beyond - the needles keep moving...