Thursday, June 8, 2017

Reflecting Pool Cowl

Reflecting Pool Cowl
Reflecting Pool Cowl

There's no denying it: this is one of those yarns that I bought because my raccoon brain demanded it (okay fine, maybe raccoon isn't accurate - it's not shiny although it's colorful. You get what I mean). And, as always with these yarns, as soon as I got it home I wondered what to do with it - with a variegated I prefer a pattern that's not too plain but that also doesn't get eaten by the colors of the fiber, after all. Luckily it didn't take long before I came up with this cable and openwork design, which shows off both the texture of the fabric and the beauty of the yarn. And, as a side note, I think it would also work well on larger needles (US 8 or even larger!) if you want a more drapey look. :)

Yarn: Lang Yarns Riva (52% Cotton, 48% Acrylic; 115 yards [105 meters]/50 grams); #0079 - 2 skeins
Reflecting Pool Cowl
A look at the cable and the
openwork design.

Needles: one 16" circular needle in size US 6 (4.0 mm), cable needle (cn) or dpn for cabling

Notions: Tapestry needle, stitch marker

Gauge: 19 stitches = 4 inches in stockinette, 22 stitches = 4 inches in pattern

Okay, let's make a cowl! First, then, cast on 110 stitches loosely (or 121, 132, or any multiple of 11 if you'd like a looser-fitting cowl - this one clocks in at only 20" around unstretched), place marker, and join in round. Then we'll work a combination of Vandyke Faggoting from page 187 of Barbara G. Walker's A Treasury of Knitting Patterns and a basic chain cable, as follows. You'll need the following notation to continue. Remember you can always cable without a cable needle, if you'd like.

back cross (bc): transfer next 2 stitches to your cn and hold in back; k2, k2 from cn

front cross (fc): transfer next 2 stitches to your cn and hold in front; k2, k2 from cn


And now that you've got that down, let's continue like so:

Row 1: * k1, (yo) twice, k2tog, k8; rep from *

Row 2: * k1, k1 in yo and then drop second loop from needle, k9 *

Row 3: * k2tog, (yo) twice, k1, fc, bc *

Row 4: * k1, k1 in yo and then drop second loop from needle, k9 *

Row 5: * k1, (yo) twice, k2tog, k8 *

Row 6: * k1, k1 in yo and then drop second loop from needle, k9 *

Row 7: * k2tog, (yo) twice, k1, bc, fc *

Row 8: * k1, k1 in yo and then drop second loop from needle, k9 *

Knit rows 1 - 8 seven times, and then knit row 1 once more. Bind off loosely, tuck in ends, and block!

Reflecting Pool Cowl

Reflecting Pool Cowl

Reflecting Pool Cowl

Reflecting Pool Cowl

Reflecting Pool Cowl
 Reflecting Pool Cowl

4 comments:

  1. A happy and snuggly cowl. Love your work always.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you! And you're right - this color is very, very happy. Glad you like it! :)

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  2. On reflection, very pretty! I think my raccoons would think so, too!

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