December 13, 2020
Knitted cowls - all knitters have at least one, right? Maybe it was one of the first knitting patterns you made as a beginner, or something you like to knit in between bigger projects. For many knitters it’s an ideal project to make the most of a precious, luxurious skein picked up on travels, or gifted by a friend.
If you enjoy knitted cowl patterns there’s not really a limit to the styles or the ways you can wear them. You might prefer a chunkier cowl to keep out the sharp cold wind, something simple and lightweight to create an extra layer or maybe something that feels a little fancy. What’s your knitted cowl type?
A cowl can be the perfect accessory to make things a little more dressy. A finer lightweight one works well with suits and more formal clothes, but also looks amazing with more casual outfits when you’re in the mood to feel fancy. As a project, they’re short, satisfying and stylish.
Often these cowls have beautiful little details and lace that make them really unique, and they are a stunning way to showcase a special skein of hand-dyed yarn. Knowing that a dyer took the time to choose a base, test colours on that blank slate and then produce something so unique speaks to us as makers, and transporting that process into an outfit is exactly the kind of thing that makes our hearts beat a little faster. Turning that love into a cowl that in turn makes you feel that your outfit has that same attention to detail and style is one of the best things about creating your own accessories. Right?!
Our team is full of cyclists, and it feels as if cowls were made for riding a bike. As much as we love the jaunty image of cycling along with a scarf flowing in the breeze behind us, the reality is very different as the wind in Scotland, and particularly near the sea, changes direction constantly. Wearing a shawl and a scarf is more likely to end badly, with the ends getting caught up in your bike or the wind claiming it as its own. A cowl therefore, is practical and less likely to end in calamity.
Cowls are the ideal alternative to a shawl or scarf when you need something cosy to put on quickly, and know that it’s not going to go anywhere. Cycling, gardening or any other kind of outdoor work are all situations that would all be improved if wearing a cowl, with a purpose. We’d even include the need for a cowl if you work indoors and are prone to running over long accessories or hemlines with your office chair (just us?)
Dragoste, Radost and Estimar have all stepped up for us in these situations. They’re cosy, with a snug fit, but easy to tuck into your jacket if needed. Knit up in something soft and squishy like Cyrano or Ulysse from De Rerum Natura and you have the perfect piece of knitwear to work hard for you. Thank you, cosy cowls!
We all know that cowls make a great learning project - usually knitted in the round, with minimal shaping, they are a great project to try out that new skill that you wanted to master. For example, cowls make amazing first colourwork project as you can get into the pattern quicker over fewer stitches than a sweater. They’re a little more forgiving too as you don’t have to contend with the shaping as you would with a hat. Also, if you wanted to practice something like brioche or cabling in a thicker yarn they’re incredibly fast and satisfying to knit. We are particularly charmed by the fact that you wear them round your neck so it’s easy to admire your new skill whenever you feel like it. Which can (and should be) all the time…
We often recommend a knitted cowl pattern like Brustane or Crassula for knitters wanting to start out with colourwork adventures. The short pattern repeats and small number of colours are a great starting point to help you find your rhythm and practice the technique. Hikari is a good option too if you want to try out a more textured, unusual stitch pattern and have a lot of fun making something that feels like a light and fluffy warm cloud when you wear it.
So, what’s your knitted cowl type? If this has got you feeling inspired to add to your knitted cowl collection, or perhaps to try out a new kind, you can find our range of cowl loveliness here.
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Learn brioche with the free Daniel's Hat pattern
Tombreck - a free chevron beanie pattern
Working the brioche neck detail on the Polwarth sweater
Installing a zipper and ribbon, finishing wee Carson
Yarn colour ideas for Threipmuir sweater
Additional colourways for the Joy mitts (choose your pride flag)
How to join the shoulders on Wardie
How to join the pockets on Granton and Wardie
Finishing Resources for Granton
Broughton mittens tutorial part 1
Broughton mittens tutorial part 2
Broughton mittens tutorial part 3
Decorative Channel Island Cast-on
3 Easy Stretchy Bind-offs (p2tog bind-off; k2togtbl, k1 bind-off; Jeny's surprisingly stretchy bind-off)
Tubular Bind-off for brioche stitch
Paired increase methods compared
How to continue in pattern while increasing and decreasing
Brioche stitch double decreases
How to Knit in the round using Magic Loop
How to Knit in the round using DPNs
Avoiding ears when binding off
Tighter purl stitches for neater cables and ribbing
Cabling without a cable needle
How to knit more symmetrical yarn overs
Bust darts in sweaters with all over stitch patterns
A magic formula for evenly distributing shaping
Superwash v Non-Superwash Wool
Picking up sts from the middle of the fabric
Understanding "continue in pattern"
Help! Where am I in my knitting project?
Using charts, even if you hate them
Joining the body and sleeves on a seamless bottom up sweater
Ysolda’s sizing chart for knitwear designers
How to pick a garment without a model for you (specifically addresses finding garment patterns when your gender identity isn't represented and the styles you want to knit might not be sized to fit your body)
How does ease affect inclusive size ranges?
Identifying and fixing mistakes in lace knitting
Getting started with stranded colourwork
Understanding colour dominance
Working stranded colourwork over small circumferences
Decreases in stranded colourwork
Holding the yarn for stranded colourwork
Ladderback Jacquard (a neat way to deal with long floats)
Cabling without a cable needle
Cabling without a cable needle on the wrong side
How to knit cabled decreases
Closed ring cable increases and decreases
How to work brioche stitch in the round
How to begin your first large cross stitch project
How to finish a cross stitch project with an embroidery hoop frame
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