Ridged Cowl

LEVEL: Easy

BY: Kira K Designs

LEARN HOW:  cast on, knit stitch and purl stitch, work in the round, bind off, and block the finished cowl.  

YARN:

Any super bulky yarn; we recommend Cedar House Yarns Windfall or Erika Knight Maxi Wool.
In your kit, we’ve included enough yarn to make a 62” by 3.5” cowl.  
If you’re not using one of our kits, you will need at least 68 m (75 yds) of yarn.
Yarn amounts given are based on average requirements and are approximate.  

NEEDLES & NOTIONS:

Size 12 millimeter 24-40” circular needles (or US size 17)
Stitch marker
Tapestry needle for sewing in the ends
Scissors (not included in the kit)

GAUGE:

5.75 stitches to 4 inches, although matching gauge exactly isn’t necessary for this project

FINISHED DIMENSIONS:

62” Circumference, 3.5” Length

 

Getting started:

For all abbreviations please check the glossary at the end of the pattern.

Make a slipknot.  To learn to make a slip knot, CLICK HERE

Using knitted cast-on, cast on (“CO”) 100 stitches. To learn to cast on, CLICK HERE

Place marker for beginning of round and join, being careful not to twist the stitches. To learn to join to work in the round, CLICK HERE

 

Using a Marker Your stitch marker will stay on your needle at the beginning of the round, to let you know when each round is finished. After you finish round 1 by knitting the stitch before the marker, move the marker to your right needle, then start round 2 by knitting the stitch after the marker. After you finish round 2, slip the marker, then move the yarn to the front of the work before purling the stitch after the marker to start round 3. Similarly, after round 4, move the yarn to the back before knitting to start the next round.

 

ROUNDS 1-2:
knit

ROUNDS 3-4:
purl

 

Repeat Repeat Rounds 1-4 until your cowl is your desired length or you are almost out of yarn, ending with round 1 or round 3.

 

Almost Done:

Bind off (“BO”) all stitches knit-wise if you ended with round 1, or purl-wise if you ended with round 3. CLICK HERE for a video tutorial

Finishing:

Weave in ends of all yarn using a tapestry needle.  You can see examples of how to weave in yarn ends HERE

Blocking:

Finally, you have to “block” the cowl.  This means that you wet the yarn and relax it a little bit, which will also help even out your stitches.  Because you’re knitting with wool, the yarn will stretch, so you want to gently lay it out so that you don’t stretch it too much, just enough that the cowl is as long as your desired measurements.

How do I block? Let the cowl sit in cool water for around 30 minutes.  Gently drain the water.  You can gently roll the cowl in a towel to remove excess water, or you can let it sit in the sink and drain for an hour or so.  Make sure that you handle the wet fabric gently and don’t wring it out. Once you have removed the excess water, lay the cowl out on fresh towels or on a blocking board (you need a surface that will allow the water to drain from the wool), and arrange the cowl folded flat in a rectangle of the measurements that you desire - keeping the rows even.  Let it dry before picking it up again. CLICK HERE for a video tutorial

Once it is dry, you are done.  Stand back and admire your work.  You have knit in the round.

 

We want to see your scarf, so please post a photo on Instagram and use the tag  #rowhouseknits

Glossary

BO: bind off
CO: cast on
k: knit
p: purl