Crunching Leaves Cowl
My Sister Knits presents the softest, warmest, prettiest cowl ever! In addition, it is quick to knit and a perfect gift! Carol had this on the other day and I immediately fell in love. I’d been pondering the question of whether or not to knit any gifts. Knowing it was getting near the middle of November, I’d pretty much given up on the idea.
However, as soon as I saw and felt the lovely Crunching Leaves Cowl, designed by Casapinka, I knew I’d make time in the next several weeks to make not one but three! One each for daughter, sister, and daughter’s MIL. Since this little darling uses size 10 and 10.5 needles it should be a satisfyingly quick knit.
The pattern calls for a bulky weight yarn. Carol used Blue Sky Fibers Techno. I have a poncho that I made out of Techno years ago and it is one of my most-worn handknits. I love Techno! It is a blend of 68% alpaca, 22% silk, and 10% Merino wool. This is a super warm yet super light-weight yarn. It is unique in how it’s spun: the baby alpaca is blown into a fine mesh tube of silk. You don’t have to worry about this yarn splitting and it glides along your needles.
You could pair a pastel with a neutral.
The cowl takes two skeins, one of each color. You can choose whatever contrast you’re drawn to, either subtle or stark. The size 10 needles are used for the cast on and bind off. You knit four rounds of seed stitch and then work the Woven stitch, which is a slipped stitch pattern, for a specified number of rounds, then repeat the seed stitch and bind off. Voila! You have a cowl with a two-color pattern that is created with slipped stitches. Only one color is used per row. A slipped stitch pattern just seems to zip along!
You only have to weave in ends twice, at the beginning and at the end. The color that you aren’t using is carried up along the inside.
Or you could pair a dark with a neutral.
The only stitch abbreviation that might be confusing at first is ‘sl1pw wyif’. This means ‘slip 1 stitch purl-wise with yarn in front’. To do this, you slide the needle into the stitch as if you’re going to purl it and you just move it from the left needle to the right needle without working it. The ‘wyif’ means you have the yarn in front as if you’re going to purl rather than in back as if you’d be knitting a stitch. This stitch creates the woven look of the cowl.
If you’re more of a visual learner, here is a video for you.
Or you could even pair neutrals!
Of course, you can make this charming cowl with any bulky weight yarn but expect the result to be quite different from the drape, weight, and feel of Carol’s sample if you use something other than Techno.
We encourage you to come in and try on our sample and fall in love! You might have to make one extra cowl to keep for yourself; this could be your after-Christmas project!
Knitting Conversations
Tuesday, November 30th is our next Knitting Conversations, from 6:30 to 7:30. The topic is lace. What exactly is lace? Do you have to use a lace-weight yarn? How do you read a chart? How do you not lose your place? How do you make the stitches? Is it as hard as it looks? All of these questions and more will be answered! You’ll be provided with the names of some projects appropriate for first-time lace knitters and you’ll go away with confidence, eager to start your first project! Sign up here or call the shop at 970.407.1461.
Happy Knitting,
