Blooming Cowl

About two weeks before Christmas, I found myself shopping for gloves and scarves at the Bloomingdales outlet.  I came upon the most beautiful, brightly colored, soft, drape-y cowl.  My first thought was, "I could make this."  I think every knitter has that same thought when they find something knitted in a store?  My second was, "But not in time for Christmas."  So I bought the cowl and gave it as a (hopefully) much loved present.

When I got home, I wanted to replicate the cowl and I wanted to make my daughter's teacher a special gift for Christmas.  When we moved, my oldest daughter started at a new school almost three times bigger than her last.  I was nervous for her, but her teacher has been amazing.  I didn't get the cowl done in time for Christmas, but thankfully her birthday was in early January.

I opened my yarn drawer -- I'm trying to limit myself to three separate places in the house where I store my yarn -- and found a beautiful blue, superwash, worsted weight wool.  I bought this wool years ago to make an adult version of the Lucia sweater but, for lots of reasons, that project didn't pan out.  One thing that I know about this yarn: it doesn't shine in stockinette stitch.  The stitch definition just isn't as crisp as I'd like.

 To replicate the drape I found in the cowl at the store, I pulled out Size 11 needles and started working in a pretty basic knit/purl stitch.  I guessed at how many stitches it would take to make a 12 or 13" tall cowl (because I couldn't be bothered before the holidays with making a gauge swatch) and started knitting.  I knew I wanted a cowl that was fairly long around, and I didn't trust my guess at a gauge be as spot on for that measurement.  So I worked flat, which I wouldn't normally do, and seamed the cowl into one big loop when it was long enough.  I could knit this cowl on auto pilot, which was a welcome relief at night from the mental accounting it takes to manage Christmas shopping for three girls.

 

That's the Blooming Cowl :: fairly quick, somewhat mindless, but generous in size and with a lovely drape.  I've included instructions for both knitting flat and seaming AND knitting in the round.  I hope you enjoy this free pattern!

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reverse rice stitch cowl: free pattern

I designed a cowl for myself late last fall. Read my first post about it here. As promised, here's the pattern.

Reverse Rice Stitch Cowl

Yarn: 1 skein DK weight wool. I used a local alpaca, 150 yards to the skein.
Needle: size 7 16” circular needle
Other materials: stitch marker, yarn needle

Gauge: not terribly important, but approximately 5 stitches per inch in pattern

Finished size: 18” around and 8” high

CO 90 stitches using a stretchy cast on. I used the german twisted cast on method for this cowl, but the long tail cast on method would work too. Here's a video teaching the german twisted cast on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfFadEumBak

Join in the round being careful not to twist stitches. Place marker.

Row 1: Knit all stitches
Row 2: *K, Ptbl, repeat around

Repeat rows 1 and 2 until cowl is desired length and end on row 1.

Bind off using a picot bind off that creates a 2 stitch picot. To do this, cast on 2 stitches using the cable cast on method. Bind off 4 stitches. Slip the stitch on the right needle onto your left needle and repeat casting on 2 and binding off four until you've come to the end of the round.

I found these directions in Knitty to be very helpful in illustrating the picot bind off: http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEfall06/FEATfall06TT.html

Weave in ends and wear!

This is the first pattern I've ever written down. If you find an error, please let me know.

©2010 Pumpkin Pie Baby.

I'm happy to have crafters hand knit finished objects from my patterns to sell. I only ask that you please provide credit to me in your listing as follows:
This cowl is knit according to the Reverse Rice Stitch Cowl pattern designed by Pumpkin Pie Baby. You can find her patterns here: http://pumpkin-pie-baby.blogspot.com.

Please do not sell copies of the pattern or make copies for distribution. Thank you.