I knitted up a version of this cowl in dijon mustard yellow for my husband for Christmas this year, and he loves it so much! A Chicago train commuter, he’s been walking face first through the polar vortex and claims his cowl is nearly impenetrable by wind. This is one of my favorite knitting designs, and I’m super excited to share the pattern & technique used with you. :)
Supplies
bulky yarn (I used 3 skeins of Blue Sky Alpacas’ Bulky in frost.)
knitting needles in the right size
yarn needle
scissors
Directions
To start, you’ll need to cast on an odd number of stitches with an invisible (a.k.a. provisional) cast on, which I shared last week. I used 23 stitches for my cowl, but you can do whatever works for you & your yarn.
Once you’re ready to knit, here’s the pattern:
{k1, bring yarn to front as if to purl, sl1}, repeat from { to } until last stitch, k1
{bring yarn to back as if to knit, sl1, p1}, repeat from { to } until last stitch, bring yarn to back as if to knit, sl1
repeat to end, leaving a couple feet of extra yarn to finish the cowl
The faux weave effect is super unique, which is partly why I think it’s so beautiful. That also means it’s a little tough to learn from a knitting pattern, so I made a video demoing how to do this. Here ya go!
When you’ve knitted the length of your cowl, leaving a couple feet of yarn to work with at the end, you’re ready to attach the two ends of the cowl with a kitchener stitch (a.k.a. grafting).
Grafting / Kitchener Stitch
1. Keep both ends of your knitting on your knitting needles. Thread the long tail of your yarn onto a yarn needle.
2. To set up your grafting, hold your knitting needles parallel to each other. Poke your (yarn) needle through the first loop on the needle closest to you purlwise, as shown. Keeping the loop on the needle, pull the yarn tail through.
3. The other part of the setup is to poke your needle through the first loop on the far knitting needle knitwise, also leaving the loop on the needle. Pull the tail through.
Now the setup is done. For all the loops from now until the final two loops, you’ll do the following.
4. Insert the yarn needle again through the first loop on the closer knitting needle knitwise, slipping it off the end. Sew through the next loop purlwise, pulling the tail through.
5. Insert the needle through the first loop on the far knitting needle purlwise, slipping it off the end. Sew through the next loop knitwise, pulling the tail through.
The pattern to remember from now until the last two loops is: knit, purl, purl, knit. KPPK.
6. After a few stitches you’ll want to pull on your working yarn to tighten your work. This helps keep the invisible cast on invisible.
7. When you find yourself with just one loop on each knitting needle, you’ll finish by repeating steps 2 and 3. Weave in all ends, and trim all tails to finish your cowl.
I first learned this knitted faux weaving technique when I knitted my way through Knit Scarves! by Candi Jensen in high school.
Rachel | 52 Weeks Project
January 20, 2014 at 11:25 amSuper cute Heidi! Actually makes me want to give knitting another try :)
KM
January 23, 2014 at 9:38 pmThis is super cute! Thanks for sharing the pattern.
Janet Callaghan
January 27, 2014 at 7:11 amGreat stitch, thanks for showing
Alisha
January 27, 2014 at 7:21 amI love this cowl. I am going to give this a try after I finish my husbands sweater. TFS the pattern and video!!
Viviana
January 27, 2014 at 9:37 amHi, thanks for the pattern, super cute! I have a question, I knit in the round. How many stitches do u think I should cast on? Thanks
Heidi
January 27, 2014 at 1:06 pmHi Viviana! Do an odd number of stitches (the exact amount will vary depend in the gauge of your yarn), and mark the beginning of each round with a stitch marker. Since you won’t be flipping your work, you’ll just alternate knitting and slipping, but you alternate starting each round with a knit or a slip. Let me know if that doesn’t make sense :) -Heidi
Cristina
April 21, 2014 at 11:46 amI marked the needle used for the row to slip purlwise.
Heidi, did you block the cowl? I’ve never done it & besides, I don’t know if I want to stretch it & not leave it tight for warmth
Thanks again,
Cristina
Heidi
April 21, 2014 at 3:26 pmI didn’t block mine for similar reasons. If you really want to block yours, just make sure to look up the best method for the yarn you used.
Ruth
January 27, 2014 at 2:44 pmYears ago when my daughter was a little girl I made her a hat, scarf and mittens using the same stitch. It is easy and very warm.
Elaine
January 27, 2014 at 11:38 pmI love that cowl, awesome. I also love your gloves. . . What pattern did you use or is it your own?
Heidi
January 28, 2014 at 12:20 amYou caught me, Elaine :). I got those as a gift for the holidays, I threw them on since they matched my glasses so well! Forgive me?
Monika
January 28, 2014 at 1:31 amYour cowl looks stunning!
Thanks for sharing this stitch (great work with tutorial btw) because now I finally know perfect pattern to knit rug/door mat from t-shirt yarn. I’ve already tried the gauge and works great. You should try too if you are DIY addict :)
Warm Regards from Rotterdam (NL)
Heidi
January 28, 2014 at 1:20 pmThank you! I appreciate it :)
Deb
January 28, 2014 at 8:47 amHeidi, being fairly new to knitting I have no idea what size needles to use, what is an “appropriate” size? Thanks.
Heidi
January 28, 2014 at 1:19 pmHi Deb! Here’s how to use our yarn’s label to determine the needles you need: http://www.craftsy.com/blog/2013/06/deciphering-yarn-labels/. Since this is just a cowl, and not something more complicated like a sweater, you should be good just using the needle size recommended on the label! Don’t hesitate to email/comment if you have any questions! :) -Heidi
Kokeshette
January 28, 2014 at 11:19 amOh, I love the stitch and the color !!
And, as I already knitted a cowl with this yarn, I have the right needles ! No excuse !
I think I might update my blog with this cowl in a few weeks… :-)
Thanks for the pattern !
Frida
February 2, 2014 at 4:27 amGreat pattern :)
Thank you for sharing.
Hugs
Frida
http://www.fridaspeach.wordpress.com
Vicki
February 2, 2014 at 10:28 amLove this cowl. I am making one now for a good friend. Can’t wait to make one for myself. Thanks for the nice pattern.
Kokeshette
February 14, 2014 at 3:25 amHi Heidi,
My cowl is ready ! I followed all the instructions of your blog : I mean, I used the same yarn, same color, same quantity, same number of stitchs… :-) http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Kokeshette/faux-woven-cowl
I love it !! And thanks for the explanation, especially the video of the stitch !
Moreover, it made me try the provisional cast on and grafting.
I’d like to share it on my blog, which is in French. Are you ok, if I just translate the part where you explain the pattern ? For the other instructions, I will redirect to your blog or some video in French.
Thanks again for sharing !
Heidi
February 16, 2014 at 8:30 pmNo problem! I’ve blogged my take on someone else’s pattern before (here’s how I formatted it: http://www.handsoccupied.com/2013/12/lovely-lacey-scarf/ – I didn’t paste her charts or the pattern into my post since I didn’t write it). If you could refer your readers to this post for the pattern in English, that would be great. Thanks so much for asking ahead of time! :) You’re the best.
Kokeshette
February 20, 2014 at 10:00 amThanks :-)
It’s now on my blog (in French) :-)
http://kokeshette.fr/2014/02/diy-le-tuto-du-snood-tisse.html
zouzoubidouille
April 13, 2014 at 3:01 amSuperbe merci beaucoup pour ce beau modèle , il me tarde de l’essayer
Bises
Ingrid
Cristina
April 21, 2014 at 5:18 amHi Heidi,
I’ve made it!
Only 2 days work :-)
I’ve followed your instructions and made it with the very same yarn (that I had to mail order as it’s not easy to find in Spain). When the first skein finished I balled the second and then I took a pic of the work the ball & 3rd skein as was in a shabby chic theme. As usual I got side tracked with a mini chest of drawers I was decoupaging and was in the mentioned picture. When I restarted knitting I didn’t remember which side I was in & had to repeat the row 4 times :-(
And then came the grafting. I didn’t follow it well the 1st time & had to repeat, but then I realized it was the same way my mum had taught me to join it (but for the leaving it on the needles) and as it was a bit loose I pulled the yarn. Once at the end. I realizad the loose thread was from the last row not the grafting so I ended up with 3 threads to hide thru the stitches. And now is 25ºC here in Alcalá de Henares so it’ll be a while before I try its warmth.
Thank you very much for your detailed explanation & all the pics
XOXO, Cristina
ali
July 21, 2014 at 9:35 pmSimply beautiful! Thanks for sharing this lovely stitch. :)
Ali
November 5, 2014 at 2:17 pmThank you for this pattern! (And for tips on working it in the round) I just started it last night and it’s knitting up like a dream!
Eliza
December 15, 2014 at 9:49 pmI LOVE the texture of this stitch! I would like to knit a hat using the same pattern. Is this stitch particularly stretchy? Have you used for something other than a cowl before?
Thanks!
Heidi
December 15, 2014 at 10:54 pmIt’s actually, ironically, not stretchy at all! But if you get creative with a more elastic yarn than the one used in this pattern, you might be able to make it work. -Heidi
Edith J. Nutt
January 24, 2015 at 10:43 amWould you please show me your (A.K.A.) Provisional Cast On again.
missed it.
Thank you Edith
Heidi
January 24, 2015 at 10:50 amHere you go, Edith: provisional cast on tutorial.
Pamela
March 2, 2015 at 8:56 pmJust a suggestion. Don’t play music in the background on your videos. It makes it very hard to hear what you are saying. And for those of us prone to migraines, that particular piece made it impossible to watch the whole video. Although it looks like you do a good job otherwise with your videos. :)
Heidi
March 4, 2015 at 8:21 amThanks, Pamela! This was one of my first knitting tutorial videos – you might want to check out the more recent ones to see what they’re like these days. Spoiler alert: Great minds! ;)
Cris
July 9, 2016 at 12:02 pmI made this very same cowl thanks to you. The joining was a bit tricky, but…