A sensational cowl knitted flat instead of in the round

This week, I’m knitting with Red Heart Baby Hugs Medium – a cuddly soft acrylic that is easy to care for, and comfortable to wear.

Yesterday, I made a fun hat that combined a solid color with a variegated to create an awesome stitch pattern. Today, I’m making a matching cowl, but this time, I’ll knit it flat instead of in the round as the technique is quite different.

I like long cowls that can be wrapped around your neck twice for added warmth, or just hang down like a scarf. I’m using the leftover yarn from yesterday’s Knit Roll Brim Hat, so I’ll see how far it goes for this project.

materials for cowl

• 1 ball of MC – Blueberry, and 1 ball of CC – Daydreamer
• 32” US8 [5mm] circular needle
• H/8 [5mm] crochet hook
• tapestry needle
• scrap yarn for provisional cast on

gauge not really important for this project

finished measurements approximately 50” circumference, and 10” in height

To accomplish the stitch pattern, you need to work Rows 1 & 2 as Right Side (RS) rows, and Rows 3 & 4 as Wrong Side (WS) rows.

As a result, a circular needle is required so that the stitches can be shifted from one end of the needle to the other as needed. After knitting the hat on a US9 [5.5mm], I decided to use a US8 [5mm] today. Why? Because I like my US8 [5mm] needle better than my US9 [5.5mm], and since this will be a longer project than the hat, I might as well use the needle I prefer.

I also chose to do a provisional crochet cast on so that I can pick up the stitches at the end and join the cowl using a 3 needle bind off. Optionally, you can join it by sewing a seam, or grafting the two ends together using the Kitchener Stitch.

With scrap yarn, cast on 36 stitches using US8 [5mm] needle and H/8 [5mm] crochet hook.

Pattern Stitch

RS Row 1: With MC, Knit (Slide the stitches back to the beginning to start Row 2)

RS Row 2: With CC, *K1, P1, repeat from *

WS Row 3: With MC, Purl (Slide the stitches back to the beginning to start Row 4)

WS Row 4: With CC, *P1, K1, repeat from *

Repeat these 4 rows for 50”, or desired length, or until you run out of yarn, ending with a Row 2 or 4. I managed to get 50” with lots to spare of both colors.

If you’ll seam it, bind off your last row, then sew the two ends together. If you’re doing a 3 needle bind off or grafting, unravel the provisional cast on, pick up the stitches and proceed with your chosen method.

finishing

There’s a downside to knitting this pattern stitch flat as there’s no good way to make a nice clean edge while knitting. Once the cowl was joined in the round, I used the crochet hook to loosely make a clean edge by CH 1, then *SC in the Knit stitch, CH1, and repeat from * until the round is complete. You can see in the photo that the right edge is jagged with the knits and purl, while the left edge is nicely finished with the crocheted edge using the Blueberry. Both the hat and the cowl were made from 1 ball of each the Blueberry and Daydreamer.

I’m very pleased with the projects for this week. Baby Hugs Medium is truly very soft to knit with and has great stitch definition for both the cabled dress and the hat and cowl stitch pattern. If you remember from Day 1, Baby Hugs has been certified as safe for babies and toddlers to wear against their sensitive skin, according to Oeko-Tex Standard 100 Class I, which means it’s also good for big kids (adults) with sensitive skin. It’s machine wash and dry care makes it a great choice for those households where hand wash and lay flat to dry are not likely to happen.

If you’re still thinking that it’s too early to start your Christmas knitting, then remember the words of Joan, another knitting friend of mine, who said:

“Last year, I decided to hand knit gifts for all the people I loved. Turns out, I only loved 2 people.”

It’s never too early to start. When you get inspired, act on it right away. That’s how I felt with the Cabled Sweater Dress, and I’m so glad I followed my vision by combining Baby Hugs Medium with An Italian Story Luce, both yarns from Red Heart.

Well, at least 2 people I love will be receiving hand knitted gifts from me this year . . . only 24 more to go.

Happy Knitting!