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| Quatrefoil Cowl |
What can I say about this yarn? The minute I saw the color I KNEW I HAD TO HAVE IT, even though this yarn weight (worsted) in a mostly-cotton blend can be hard to design for (Why? Because lace isn’t very crisp in this weight, the lack of stretch compared to wool makes it less ideal for cables, etc). So I had to play around with a few patterns before I came up with something I liked, but I enjoy the way this combination of a picot hem and a basic eyelet design creates a feminine, but not overly girly, aesthetic. Of course, just because I used a mostly-cotton fiber doesn’t mean you’re stuck with that choice; this design would look equally good with wool, and would probably even take the right variegated yarn as well…
Oh, and before I forget – special thanks to my friend Nikki at Zender Studios for helping me with the pics! 🙂
Yarn: Lana Grossa 365 Yak (66% Cotton, 12% Yak, 22% Polyamide; 159 yards [145 meters]/50
grams); #004 – 2 skeins
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| A better look at the eyelets. |
Needles: 16″ or 20″ circular needle in size US 9
Notions: Tapestry needle, stitch marker
Gauge: 18 stitches = 4 inches in stockinette
So let’s make a cowl! First, then, we’re going to start with a picot hem. You can find tons of tutorials for this online if you need extra help, but I’ll walk you through the steps here as well. So, to begin, cast on 96 stitches loosely, place marker, and join in round. Knit five rows around. Then, work the following row:
Picot Row: * yo, k2tog; rep from *
Once this picot row is done, knit six rows around. Then we’ll begin our main pattern, which is Quatrefoil Eyelet from page 171 of Barbara G. Walker’s A Treasury of Knitting Patterns, and goes like so (oh, and yes, I know that your hem currently looks like it climbed out a garbage can; it won’t look good until you seam it at the end!). Anyway, we’ll work as follows:
Rows 1 & 2: knit
Row 3: * k4, yo, ssk, k2; rep from *
Row 4: knit
Row 5: * k2, k2tog, yo, k1, yo, ssk, k1 *
Row 6: knit
Row 7: * k4, yo, ssk, k2 *
Rows 8 – 10: knit
Row 11: * yo, ssk, k6 *
Row 12: knit
Row 13: * k1, yo, ssk, k3, k2tog, yo *
Row 14: knit
Row 15: * yo, ssk, k6 *
Row 16: knit
Knit rows 1 – 16 three times, and then knit rows 1 – 9 once more. Knit six rows around, and then we’ll knit another picot row, as follows:
Picot Row: * yo, k2tog; rep from *
Complete this picot row, and then knit 5 rows around and bind off loosely. Then we’ll finish the picot hems! To do this, begin on one end of the cowl, and fold the edge between the cast-on/cast-off and the picot row over, so that the yo’s from the picot row form a nice ridge at the edge of your piece. Using a long length of your yarn and your tapestry needle, stitch edging in place. Repeat on other end. And once your hems are stitched, tuck in ends, and, if desired, block!
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| Yes, I know I tend to look smirky in pictures. You should see the ones I deleted!!! |
