After displaying our latest cowl in the shop, I thought I'd do a wee round up of all the cowl samples we have.
When I laid them all out I found we have 17.
SEVENTEEN!
You're perhaps wondering why we have so many cowls.
It's partly because I love a cowl. Both knitting one and wearing one. They can be effortless to cast on and to wear.
They are also a great way to try out new techniques.
Never knitted in the round before? A cowl is a great starter project.
Never used the magic loop technique before? Try a tube cowl.
Never attempted stranded colourwork? Pick a straight up and down cowl with a simple geometric pattern so you can master your chart reading and stranding skills.
Or perhaps you have a stash filled with gorgeous single skeins of hand dyed yarn? 100g of 4ply will give a tall single loop cowl (or two short cowls - very popular with cyclists and walkers).
Or perhaps you have lots of leftover self patterning sock yarn? Knitting a narrow cowl will still show off that self-patterning effect. Just gather your scrappy leftovers and have some fun striping the colours.
Maybe you need something warm but very lightweight to pack in your bag to ward off an unexpected chill or to add a pop of colour to your outfit? You can make a cowl with just 25g of a fluffy laceweight yarn and it'll fold down to almost nothing. Great for taking on holiday - as a project and as an accessory.
Perhaps you love the bulk of a shawl but can't be bothered by the flappy ends. Knit a shaped cowl. You get the bulk of a shawl at the front but no ends to deal with. They easily fill the gap in any jacket front and you can just throw it on without any styling.
See how versatile they are? You can even use them as an emergency hat or hood.
To help you navigate our current collection I've divided them into 'types'. Hopefully you will find one that suits your mood, needs and/or stash!
The TALL cowls.
These cowls are the tall narrow single cowls that you can pull over your head to keep your neck warm. They are all knitted in the round using 4ply yarn and a 40cm circular needle.
These are great portable projects for travel and holiday. Most use a plain or simple stitch pattern that allows a variegated yarn to shine.
These are versatile patterns that you can adapt to suit your needs:
- knit it shorter
- add stripes or blocks of colours
- add more stitches for a looser fit
- add your own stitch patterns
Or try the 3- Colour Cowl that uses three colours of yarn and some straightforward 'stitch patterned stripes'. This one is great for stash busting too. Why not knit each stitch pattern in a different colour?
Follow the links below for all the details.
The Simple Cowl combines 50g of Opal 4ply sock yarn and 50g of Socks Yeah 4ply. The pattern is easy to adapt:
- Knit the whole cowl using the self-patterning sock yarn.
- Knit the whole cowl using a solid colour of Socks Yeah 4ply
- Stripe it!
- Knit a shorter cowl.👇
A short Simple Cowl using mini balls of Opal 4ply sock yarn.
Half-Linen Stitch Cowl - perfect for a highly variegated yarn. The half-linen stitch is straightforward to work and it blends colours across your rows softening pooling.
3-Colour Cowl uses 3 different colours of 4ply and different stitch patterns - eyelets, stripes, purl bumps and lace. The different textures and colours make it interesting to wear and the pattern is easy to modify. It's written in short sections, so you feel you're making progress and you can look ahead to the next bit - which is always motivating.
The TECHNIQUE cowls.
Fancy trying something new? Maybe lace, brioche or a bit of stranded colourwork?
These cowls are all perfect for adventurous beginners. Learning a new technique on a small accessory like a cowl is a no pressure way to experiment. Cowls are generally straight up and down so you don't need to worry about working that new technique at the same time as increasing or decreasing.
You're working with a small amount of stitches so it's easier to keep track of the pattern and if it all goes pear-shaped you can rip it back without too much disappointment.
Follow the links below for all the details.
The Horseshoe Lace Cowl is knitted flat and buttoned up into a cowl, it's a great beginner lace project and is easy to adapt for different yarns and lengths. The lace pattern is very straightforward to work and is worth a go if you've never knitted lace.
It's only 57 stitches wide and you are not adding any increases to change the shape - it stays a rectangle all the way up.
And as the horseshoe pattern has a small stitch and row repeat it's a great project to learn how to read charts with the added assurance of the written instructions too.
And it's knitted in DK yarn so you're stitches will be bigger and easier to see.
Beginners Brioche Cowl is a great first bricohe project. Brioche produces an extra squishy rib and is formed by alternating slipped stitches with yarn overs and knit or purl stitches.
Two colour brioche is easier than one colour as you get used to the combination of slip stitches and yarn overs. Having two colours makes it clearer which stitch to knit/purl and which stitch to slip.
The Beginners Brioche Cowl is knitted in a chunky yarn so it works up quickly. Very satisfying when you are trying out a new stitch/technique.
Minecrafty is a stranded colourwork cowl knitted in the round.
A cowl is a great project to practice your stranded colourwork especially with Minecrafty as you're using a DK yarn it'll work up faster.
Minecrafty also gives you an opportunity to try out a tubular cast on and cast off too.
Just be aware, the yarn I used for our Minecrafty is very sticky and is not easy to rip back. So I'd recommend a smooth wool or wool blend yarn for less experienced or nervous knitters.
The TUBE cowls.
A tube cowl is a tube that is joined to form a loop. Knitted in the round, you join the cast on and cast off edges together. Or you can do a provisional cast on and graft the ends together for a truly seamless finish.
It's a good form for stranded colourwork as your strands and ends are hidden inside the tube.
It's fantastic for self patterning sock yarn as you're knitting a small circumference so you'll get all the patterning effect.
We've got 4 tube cowls in the shop. All the links below.
We have two versions of our free Tube Cowl pattern.
This one uses our Pom Pom yarn, a hand dyed 4ply. I've used Pom Pom the 100g skein and Pom Pom Party which is a set of 6 mini skeins. The free pattern explains my stripes and the blog post shows you the insides!
The original Tube Cowl was knitted using 10 mini balls of Opal 4ply sock yarn.
If you fancy trying some stranded colourwork check out the Pic and Mix Cowl.
This cowl is knitted using Wee County Yarn's Pic & Mix Cowl kit. Each kit contains 15 MiniBalls of 4ply yarn. There are 6 shade collections to choose from, each one has a range of lights and darks. Each kit includes a printed pattern for the cowl - a straightforward stranded colourwork motif that you repeat over and over again.
Stranded colourwork in the round is so much easier than doing it flat. When you knit in the round the right side of your work always faces you. To make stocking stitch you just knit every round. No purling whilst stranding.
And as you're making a tube all your ends are hidden inside. A colourwork pattern like this means there are a lot of ends as you cut each colour after you've used it. But there's no need to weave them in. Just tie the ends together and trim. This works especially well with a fine sticky yarn.
Our other colourwork cowl is the Moonwake Cowl knitted in the smooth merino Socks Yeah DK.
You need 4 colours of a DK yarn (only 100m of each) and the colourwork pattern is a very engaging mix of straight lines and curves.
I've included lots of photos of how I grafted the ends of this cowl together. Including how to add a twist. Read more on the blog post.
The FLUFFY cowls.
These cowls are very wispy and very lightweight. And they're all free patterns. Tap the links for more info.👇
Fluffy Loop takes just 25g of an Alpaca Silk laceweight. Super light and squishy.
Mohair Cowl weighs just 25g of a Mohair Silk laceweight. A little bit swishy with some easy peasy eyelets.
Alpaca Cowl, weighs 50g and uses a light and soft alpaca cotton blend.
The SHAPED cowls.
Shaped cowls have a little bit more... shape to them.😆
Rather than being a straight up and down tube, they can have a pointy or circular front. This adds a bit more bulk and drama to the front whilst still being neat at the back. They're great for filling in the gap of your jacket.
The Nina Cowl has lots of texture:
- garter stripe eyelets (a row of simple eyelets with garter stitch bumps either side)
- bobbles (very simple to work but look impressive)
- purl bump zig zag pattern
- garter stitch stripes
And it's a knitted in an aran weight yarn so it's a fast project too.
The Shift Cowl uses a self striping yarn and slip stitches to give a WOW factor. It's also knitted FLAT and sewn up.
We used Schoppel Wolle's Edition 3, a soft merino sportweight yarn which is available in loads of colours.
The Dewberry Cowl has a circular shape. You start working back and forth before joining in the round. Knitted in an aran weight yarn this is a quick and satisfying project. We added a touch of luxury using WYS Fable Aran.
You can read about all our shop samples on the website here and see them all in the Pittenweem shop.
I can guarantee you I will be adding more.😆
