Some subscribers may or may not have realized that this Friday came and went without my normal well-wishes for a weekend filled with stitches and sips in the form of my newsletter. Oops, sorry!
I got a chance to head up to the Sierras this week - spending time in the fresh air, clear blue lake and at times doing nothing but sitting in a rocking chair on the deck, sipping wine and knitting what I present to you all today - Collectedness - the Cowl. FREE PATTERN!
Spending time in nature, away from the hustle and bustle of the day-in and day-out life was a much needed therapy for me. Collectedness: the state of being calm and self-controlled. Collectiveness: assembled into or viewed as a whole. 2. Of, relating to, characteristic of, or made by a number of people acting as a group: a collective decision.
Thus the creation of my cowl - the assembling of many parts into a whole with the intention of calm and self-control. This cowl is super cool and the best part - I had my husband model it.... it is, in my opinion, a cowl that is unisex - it looks great on ANYONE!
In this cowl you will get to practice the knitting technique of intarsia - I have designed a pattern that would incorporate large squares which seamlessly change colors (on the right side).
The yarn used to create this cowl was provided to me by Knit Picks - therefore this project is sponsored by Knit Picks - they would love if you use their yarn to create your own Collectedness - the Cowl.
To make this cowl you will need 4 skeins of High Desert Worsted (all different colors).
This pattern is designed to be extremely beginner friendly so gauge isn't crazy important as the pattern is worked 'to measurements' - what does this mean? I will say, work this many stitches to measure X then work this bit to measure Y. This will provide you with a bit more flexibility in working this cowl to be your own.
Okay, for those Lovies who happen to be more detailed oriented. High Desert is 217 yards and I use 4 for this cowl (you won't need every last yard - but this pattern works well if you actually use different colors).
Okay, here is how I worked this pattern:
1. Cast on enough sts for a width of 22". For me this was a cast on of 100 (I did not use selvedge edge sts) 100 sts amounts to 25 sts per color. You will need to cast on 25 in C1 then 25 in C2 then 25 in C3 and lastly 25 in C4. 100 sts gave me an UNBLOCKED measurement of 22"
2. Work stockinette stitch until row length is 3.5". Note: you will need to know how to work intarsia stitch to keep the color blocks uniform.
3. The last color block color (as you see in the picture, my last color block is purple) You will work a garter stitch of that last color for a row measurement of 2 -2.5".
4. Look at the photo above where I discuss color changing and keeping the block uniform. You will notice that purple is the last color worked and thus the garter stitch section will be purple - once that garter stitch row is completed, notice how purple moves to the end of the row and white is now the first color block.
5. Repeat growing stockinette rows by 3.5".
6. The last color block color (if you recall in this case is white) You will work a garter stitch of that last color for a row measurement of 2 -2.5" - Then bind off knitwise.
HERE COMES THE FUN PART!!! I love getting crochet hooks into the hands of my mostly knitting Lovies.
Take a look at this photo. This is post binding off. See the white yarn and the other end is where I started. Slip knot (on a crochet hook with the black yarn) - we will pick up the 100 stitches with the crochet hook and place them on the needles. (if you refuse to use a crochet hook - then just pick up stitches as you normally would) - work 2-2.5" of garter in the last color then bind off. Weave in those ends and with the mattress stitch close the cowl. Block and strut!
Let me know if you will make this for yourself or loved one and if I need to create another blog post on "how-to' knitting instarsia. You can comment and let me know! May your stitches and sips be plentiful!