A new version of our Tube Cowl is now available as a free pattern.
This Tube Cowl uses approx. 420m/100g of 4ply.
We've used My Mama Knits Choufunga 4ply in our exclusive Pom Pom Tree and Pom Pom Party hand dyed yarn.
Pom Pom Tree comes in a multi coloured speckled 100g hank and Pom Pom Party is a pack of 6 x 20g mini skeins in semi solid shades.
The colours are inspired by our pom pom tree that sits in the window of our Pittenweem yarn shop.
A Tube Cowl is a tube with it's cast on and cast off ends joined to create a loop.
This Tube Cowl is a long narrow tube allowing you to loop it around your neck twice without much bulk.
For our Pom Pom Tube Cowl we used the variegated speckled yarn for just over half the tube and then striped in the 6 colours from the mini skein pack.
Until now our Tube Cowl pattern was only available as part of our Mini Ball Bag kits but you can now download it as a separate pattern from the website.
The pattern includes my stripe sequence if you want to copy our shop version. BUT! Like many of our free shop patterns you can easily modify this pattern to suit your yarn.
You can knit the whole cowl with one 100g skein of 4ply - perhaps that one skein you fell in love with but haven't used yet.
Or if you've got a stash of leftover 4ply from shawls and socks, you can stripe them together. To make random stripes (and reduce any decision anxiety) you could use a random stripe generator.
Or you could work in blocks of colours.
If you want a short loop that doesn't wrap twice around your neck... just knit half the number of rounds specified.
A tube cowl is a great first working-in-the-round project as there is no shaping. You are just going round and round.
Because you are knitting a narrow tube even an extra short circular needle may still be too long. But it's a great opportunity to learn how to do Magic Loop - a technique for knitting a small circumference on a long circular needle. Or you can try Double Pointed Needles (DPNs).
You start this tube using just one yarn so you'll get lots of practice working in the round before you need to work with two colours.
Also, working with two colour stripes is quite simple to do. These stripes are 5 rounds high. I carried the unused yarn up the inside of the tube. Only cutting the yarn when I no longer needed it for the next stripe.
You do have ends to weave it! But not too many.
And because it's a tube, your strands/ends are hidden inside.
If you work another stripe pattern you may need to cut and rejoin the yarn more frequently. You can still carry unused yarn loosely up the inside too but be careful you don’t carry too many colours at the same time as you can easily get tangled and make that side bulky.
I talk more about stripes on our Pom Pom Party Sock.
Once you've knitted your tube you need to join the cast on and cast off edges together to make a loop.
I recommend you use Mattress Stitch which gives a neat almost invisible finish. You can see a tutorial on how to works here.
If you want a truly seamless finish you could do a provisional cast on and then graft you ends together instead. That's the technique used in the Moonwake Cowl.
Tube Cowl by The Woolly Brew
You can download the pattern here.
Measures - approx. 65cm long and 10cm wide (laid flat).
Yarn - approx 100g/420m of 4ply yarn made up of
Yarn A – 210m/50g we used My Mama Knits Pom Pom Tree and
Yarn B – 210m/50g split equally across 6 semi solid colours we used My Mama Knits Pom Pom Party Mini skein set – approx. 35m/8g of each colour.
Needles - 3.25mm needles to work a narrow circumference in the round. Either DPNs or 80cm or 100cm circular needles for magic loop.
a stitch marker to mark the start of your round and safety pin markers (all optional)
Techniques - cast on; work in the round with one and more than one colour; cast off; mattress stitch.
