Whit's Knits: Big Herringbone Cowl
This winter New York City streets are filled with people who have learned the secret of keeping warm. They are all wrapped up in the big soft folds of the oversized cowl. A long loop that you twist and double around your neck, it's definitely a glamorous touch in a what can otherwise be pretty frumpy season. Don't you love when fashion and function meet in such happy harmony?
This cowl was inspired by Joelle's classic Herringbone Poncho from her very first book, Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I have always been so taken with the drape and texture of Joelle's poncho that I was really excited to borrow her idea for this project!
I stuck with Joelle's choice of yarn, Blue Sky's Worsted, because it is by far one of Purl Soho's softest, most cuddly yarns, perfect for wearing around sensitive skin areas like your neck. A blend of fine merino wool and royal alpaca, it has a beautiful weight that creates cascading, dramatic fabrics. Just what I was looking for!
The cowl's final look keeps one foot in the past with a traditional herringbone stitch. It's such a distinctive stitch on such a powerful garment, you're going to feel about one foot taller when you wear yours!
The Materials
- 5 skeins of Blue Sky Alpaca's Worsted, 50% Royal Alpaca and 50% Merino. This color is "Ecru" #2003.
- A US #17, 32 inch circular needle.
- A Replaceable Jumbo Stitch Marker.
The Pattern
Gauge
15 stitches = 4 inches in herringbone stitch
Finished Size
14 inches wide and 58 inches around
Begin
Cast on 220 stitches. To ensure that your first round isn't too difficult, cast on fairly loosely; your stitches should easily slide up and down the needle.
Join into the Round
Make sure the stitches aren't twisted around the needle, and slip the last stitch you cast on from the right needle to the left needle (so that it is next to the first stitch cast on).
Place a replaceable jumbo stitch marker on the right needle.
K2tog and slip only the first stitch off the left needle (leaving the second stitch on the needle)...
...so it looks like this.
Continue
Round 1: *K2tog and slip only the first stitch off the left needle, repeat from * until 1 stitch remains.
Remove the stitch marker and k2tog, slipping the first stitch off the left needle. Place the stitch marker to the right of the first stitch on the right needle.
The next stitch looks like this...
Remove that stitch from the needle and twist it so it looks like this...
Round 2: *K2tog through the back loop (K2tog tbl), slipping the first stitch off the left needle, repeat from * to last stitch. Remove the stitch marker and k2tog tbl, slipping the first stitch off the left needle. Place the stitch marker to the right of the first stitch on the right needle.
The next stitch looks like this...
Remove that stitch from the needle and twist it so it looks like this...
Repeat Rounds 1 and 2 until piece measures 14 inches from the cast on edge, ending with all the steps of Round 2.
Here's what the right side of Herringbone Stitch looks like:
And here's what the wrong side looks like:
Bind Off
NOTE: You will continue to work the Herringbone Stitch for the bind off.
Bind Off Round: [K2tog and slip only the first stitch off the left needle] 2 times, pass the first stitch over (just like a normal bind off), *k2tog and slip the first stitch off the left needle, pass the first stitch over, repeat from * until 2 stitches remain (1 stitch on the left needle and 1 stitch on the right needle), knit the last stitch tbl and pass the first stitch over. Cut the yarn and pull it through the remaining stitch.
Weave in the ends, gently block and then bundle up!
January 5, 2011
Reader Comments (219)
http://www.newstitchaday.com/home/2011/2/22/how-to-knit-the-horizontal-herringbone-stitch.html
Yes, Sierra is right! For Row 2 you would p2tog instead of k2tog. Your blanket sounds beautiful - good luck!
Whitney
If anyone has done this or worked it out I would be very interested.
Yes! Use just 1 skein of either Cascade's Eco+ (http://www.purlsoho.com/purl/products/item/7768-Cascade-Yarns-Eco) or Cascade's Ecological Wool (http://www.purlsoho.com/purl/products/item/7877-Cascade-Yarns-Ecological-Wool) . Each is just $16.50 for a skein and will be nice and soft and cuddly!
Thanks for your question,
Whitney
Thanks for a gorgeous pattern - I'm on my 5th row and am wondering about this funny little seam at the transition spot between the k2tog rows and the k2tog tbl rows. Should there be some symmetry to it, or is it ok if it looks a bit disheveled? I think I'm following the pattern correctly and the rest of it looks beautiful. Love the blue sky yarn - first time to use it and it is worth every penny!
Like most knitting in the round that involves a stitch pattern or stripes, you will see a bit of a "seam" at the transition. However, I found that giving an extra tug to the first stitch of every round really helped clean up the "jog".
Please let us know if you have any more questions. Thank you for making the Cowl and good luck!
Whitney
Thanks for any help you can give me.
You only remove the stitch and twist it at the beginning of each round. The rest of the round you repeat "K2tog through the back loop (K2tog tbl), slipping the first stitch off the left needle" - don't twist the stitch that you slip off the needle, just let it off the needle!
Please let us know if you are still having trouble - and good luck!
Whitney
Love the cowl.
This pattern only comes in one size, but it's pretty large so it might work for man.
Thanks-
Instead of trying to pick up live stitches you may want to try slipping your needle through the entire round below the live stitches, making sure you don't skip any. Then rip out all the stitches until you get to the round that is resting on the needle. You might find this much easier!
Good luck!
Whitney
You should cast on about 198 stitches. If you're curious how I figured that out, the math is: 3 3/4 stitches to the inch, times 6, equals about 22, and 220 minus 22 equals 198! By the way, this pattern can be worked on any number of stitches (it's not reliant on a certain multiple).
Thanks for your question and good luck!
Whitney
Thanks~Nadia
I think you should be alright with four skeins. Keep in mind, though, that if you end up using only three skeins and the fourth is still in its original skein, you can return it for store credit!
As fas as sizing goes, I would wrap a scarf twice around your neck, letting it hang the way you want the cowl to, and measure the length. Multiply the length by 3.75 and cast on that number!
Thanks for your questions! Let us know if you have more!
Whitney
This yarn is definitely not too fuzzy. It has a smooth soft feel that is really wonderful. Thank you for your comment!
Thanks in advance for your time!
Can any one help with how the colour looks?
Is Blue Sky Alpaca's ecru a white, or more of a duller off white.
I need to wear quite bright colours or I look really dull... and as I have to order the yarn online I can't see it.
Thanks for your help
The ecru is not a bright white. Red, Strawberry, and Tangerine are all pretty bright. You can see all of the colors here: http://www.purlsoho.com/purl/products/item/711-Blue-Sky-Worsted
Thanks for your question!
I purchased the yarn & needles recommended for this beautiful project & am having a terrible time with the needles twisting! I just had to take off a few rows & need to start at the beginning. What can I do to prevent this from happening?
I'm a new knitter and am nervous about starting again without some advise first.
Definitely don't want to scrap the $100 plus already spent on this project.
Thank you!!!
I'm not totally sure what you mean by "needles twisting". After joining to work in the round, it really doesn't matter what your needles are doing, your knitting will be fine. If the work spins around the needles, don't worry, just keep knitting with the right side facing you and you'll see that it all ends well!
If there's a problem I'm not imagining, please fill me in and we'll see what we can do!
Good luck!
Whitney
This is beautiful!
One question though: I've done the first few rounds a few times now & am fairly confident that I'm reading the instructions properly for changing rows- but the tail from my first cast on stitch seems to be getting further away (not aligning) with the first stitch of new row. It looks like it's moving over one stitch per row.
For example, I'm about to start row 4 now & tail is dangling 4 stitches to the left- is this ok/correct?
If not what could I be doing wrong?
Thank you!
Yes, that's right! You're on the right path!
Thanks for asking,
Whitney
The part I do not understand the second row, the K2 tog stitches,slipped of the left needle onto the right and the twist part,Have practice with no luck,when I do the pearl version it loses the continuity.
Thanks,Ethelle
How do I join a new ball of yarn for this project?
I usually use the felting method but that doesn't seem to work with this yarn- I'm assuming it's because of the Alpaca in it.
Could you describe how best to attach- I've looked on-line but couldn't find much advice for joining with circular needles.
Thank you!
I'd love to help you get it right, but I'm not sure where you're having trouble. What part of the second round is tripping you up? And what do you mean by "the purl version"? If you could be more specific, hopefully I can steer you on the right path!
Thanks,
Whitney
For this project I joined new balls of yarn the same way I always do, which is to say, I just drop the old yarn and start the next stitch with the new one (leaving a tail). This leaves a hole in the work that is remedied when I weave in the tails, just by crossing the left tail to the right and the right tail to the left.
By the way, there's really no specific trick to changing yarns with circular needles, so whatever you find for straight needles will also apply to circular!
Thanks so much for your question and good luck!
Whitney
I absolutely love this pattern! I am pretty new to knitting, just done a few projects ( a simple baby blanket and a simple scarf) so maybe I am just not quite ready for this project yet, but I have been trying it and trying it and it just doesn't seem to be working. It looks to me like I am not really quite doing the swtich as both sides of my piece seem to have the seams from "the wrong side" and neither side has the nice criss cross pattern.
Also, the point were I joined the round seems to be out of sync, like I didn't line it up properly. The strange thing is that when I try to do it not in the round, the pattern comes out perfect. I really don't know what I am doing wrong...
https://picasaweb.google.com/114052762244675359637/Knit?authuser=0&feat=directlink shows some pictures of my piece front and back as well as were I have joined the piece.
Also, I wasn't able to find as thick of wool, nor was I able to find as big as needles. So I am using # 4 weighted yarn and size 10 36" circular needles.
Any suggestions you could give would be very much appreciated.
Thanks!
Danielle
I'm sorry you're having such a struggle! The good news is that, at least as far as your question about joining goes, the "seam" does shift as you knit. So there's nothing wrong with it "not lining up properly".
As for your other problem with the stitch pattern itself, the link you gave us isn't loading properly so I can't see what your piece looks like. It's hard to know where exactly you're misstepping, but I can suggest that if you are truly frustrated, you just go ahead and knit the cowl flat and sew the ends together when you're finished. As a third project, this one would definitely be a challenge!
Thanks for your questions - please let us know if you have more!
Whitney
Thanks,
Nadia
The edge is not an i-cord, it's just the edge of the herringbone pattern as written.
Thanks so much for your question!
- Molly
When the bind off instructions say to "knit the last stitch tbl" (ie through the back loop), that's another way of saying to twist the stitch!
Thanks for your question and congratulations on getting to the end! I hope your cowl keeps you super cozy this season!
Whitney
Assuming you can't wear any animal fibers, I would suggest Blue Sky's Cotton (http://www.purlsoho.com/purl/products/item/721-Blue-Sky-Cotton). Super soft and cozy, it would be a delicious substitute! You'll probably only need 4 skeins, and you may want to use #15 needles instead of #17. And since it's slightly thinner, you may also want to cast on a few more stitches - do a gauge swatch to find out!
Thanks for your question!
Whitney
If you are talking about the stitch at the beginning of the round that you remove and twist, then, no, you do not drop that stitch. You simply twist it and replace it.
If, however, you are talking about slipping the first stitch of the k2tog or the k2tog tbl, then, yes, you do actually drop it!
I hope this helps - please let us know if you need more help and good luck!
Whitney