Where I live it is the end of summer, not my favourite time of year. Lots of folks love this time of the fall with the cooler days and cooler nights, colourful leaves changing from green to gold before they fall. It can be bright and sunny and tease you into thinking that the warm days are not over and that winter is far, far away. Ha!
It is not that I really dislike winter but more that I really hate the long dark of winter days. Once we reach the middle of January and the daylight starts to increase, I am all good even though this is the coldest part of the winter and often the snowiest. Give me a snowfall over rain any day but just not the darkness of November and December.
Now that I have had a little rant, I am looking forward to all of the lovely bulky yarns that show up this time of the year and hope to have a few patterns ready over the next month or so that take advantage of these quickly knit yarns. Most of them don’t need anything complicated as far as stitching goes to become stars, in fact, the more simple the pattern, the better to showcase the colours and textures of these lovelies.
I have a few patterns that I have written to make gift knitting, and yes it is time to start, an easy and speedy process. Here is the first, a simple cowl that I hope that you enjoy!
Cowl or Infinity Scarf:
Tools: 12 to 15mm single point pair of needles or a circular needle of the same diameter. The needle size is not crucial but will affect the depth of the garter stitch. Use what you have; if the largest that you have is 6mm, work the cowl in dropped garter stitch with one yarn over wrap to make the stitch size close to what a larger needle produces. There are great videos online that show how to make this easy stitch.
Materials: 90m chunky yarn or use two ends of worsted weight in the same or contrasting colours to make your own chunky weight. I have mixed a textured and smooth yarn in the same colour or close to make a fabulous look. Use up those this is too beautiful to resist sequin, loopy or what have you yarns that are hiding in your stash. Consult your great imagination and have fun!
Cowl Instructions: Cast on 22 stitches with 12mm needles or 18 stitches with 15mm needles.
Knitting all rows, work 36 ridges (72 rows) with the 12mm needles and 30 ridges (60 rows) with the 15mm needles.
Join with cast off by picking up a loop at each live stitch (as you work the last row) from your cast on and three needle bind off with your live stitches. If you don’t want to do this, cast off and neatly sew the two ends together to form a tube. Lightly Block with steam to stretch your new lovely cowl out slightly and to soften the yarn a little.
If you want a longer cowl, and don’t forget you will need more yarn, keep knitting until you get to the length that you like when wrapped around your neck then finish here.
