Tag Archives: Bobble Cowl

Cowling

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This is a major knitting stutter for me. I’ve knit it in multiples, this one being my third. It’s Joji Locatelli’s Bobble Cowl. She is of the view that it’s “a perfect way to use up a single skein of yarn.” I agree that it’s pretty close to perfect. I knit this one in Kokon Yarn Bleu Fingering Weight. It’s put up in 437 yard 100 gram skeins. I worked 12 repeats of the 48 row pattern and used up about 360 yards. I’m confident I could have knitted one more repeat. But I felt the length was good at 12.

Obviously, the pattern is mostly a matter of short rows. That’s an easy skill to master. Still, especially at the start of the pattern, I usually need a bit of help recognizing the correct spot to turn. When working the wraps & turns in the first half of the pattern repeat, when the pattern says work to “6 stitches before,” I worked until the 7th stitch from the wrapped stitch gap. I slipped that 7th stitch to the right hand needle and moved the yarn forward. I turned and that created the wrapped stitch. This count means that the stitches will bunch in 6-stitch groups. That works out so that you end the wrap-and-turn sequences in the first half of the pattern repeat with 3 stitches left, the 3rd one being wrapped. That’s the same point where the sequence ends in the second half of the pattern repeat.

Here’s another look at my Kokon Bleu version.

I decided to knit up a gifted skein of Yarn Snob’s A Good Fingering in this same pattern. This is their Holiday Flower Power colorway. Again, for my 4th Bobble Cowl, I worked 12 repeats.

If you’ve wondered, Locatelli’s pattern sensibly doesn’t call for knitting into the wraps as you pass them in any subsequent rows. In garter stitch the wraps don’t detract from the pattern.

The pattern begins with a provisional cast-on so that you’ll have live stitches at the ready to join with your last row of stitches. I use Lucy Neatby’s easy crochet cast-on. It unravels perfectly and easily because all the stitches in the first row are knit stitches. Instead of working Kitchener grafting, I work a 3-needle bind-off. That’s because I sometimes have trouble keeping an even tension while grafting garter stitch. I don’t mind the resultant seam on the inside of the cowl. But working Kitchener at the end will make for a more elegant look. And if you’re knitting for a non-knitter, there’s a more than 50% chance they’ll be wearing the cowl inside out. So if you can manage the graft at least you won’t have the added aggravation of seeing the 3-needle bind-off seam dangling under their chin.

The stitch count stays at 60 throughout the pattern. If you find that you have 2 extra stitches, it might be that you forgot to bind off two stitches at the end of the bobble. Ahem. I’m guessing that you know how I know that.

The Bobble Cowl is big favorite of mine.

Next up is Loop Knallerbse, by Petra Peinze. Stop laughing. It’s not a cowl for a baby giraffe.

Isn’t it cool in a very warm kind of way? I knit mine in Queensland Collection Perth using the Golden Wattle colorway. For some, this sock yarn won’t feel properly next-to-the-neck soft. But I’m not sensitive to that. So it’s a little prickly. So am I sometimes. It suits me well.

This Ravelry freebie is definitely worth your time. It’s so long that you can even pull it up over your head as a snood. Because snoods don’t only have to be mesh bags holding hair at the back of a person’s head. Loop Knallerbse qualifies as a “wide ring of knitted material worn as a hood or a scarf.” New Oxford American Dictionary. I just love that word. Snood. Snood. Snood.

The blues, again

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It’s time to sing the blues again as in 2020. First up in this blues redux is Benjamin Matthews’ conveniently named Art Deco Redux. I worked mine in Malabrigo Rios in the Teal Feathers colorway. Rios is right up there among my favorite yarns for knitting worsted weight hats. And Teal Feathers is a beautiful vibrant deep blue.

Some don’t like purling in the round. That’s not a problem for me. The reverse stockinette sets off the gradually increasing height of the rib section very nicely. The simple architectural design ends at the crown with some excellent swirling decreases,

Next up is Vanessa Ewing’s Dodging Raindrops Cowl. I knit mine in MCN Fingering, by Sun Valley Fibers. It’s 80% Merino,10% nylon, and 10% cashmere goat. I’ve been enjoying fingering weight cowls these days.They can take the chill out of air conditioning or take the chill out of winter. Very versatile.

It’s easy to see the falling raindrops in this pattern. I wasn’t sure if raindrops would be closer together at higher or at lower altitudes. I’ve been known to wonder about things like that. But this is the way the designer’s project page features the cowl, so I’m sticking to that.

It’s a fun knit. And this cashmere-content Sun Valley yarn has wonderful drape and feels great next to the skin.

You’ve seen Joji Locatell’s fingering weight Bobble Cowl once before on this blog. This time I bobbled away using Anzula’s Domino. Domino is an unusual mix of 80% merino, 17% acrylic, and 3% polyester. Honestly, the merino doesn’t shine through as much as I’d like. But what a great cowl.

Here’s a closer look at how the short rows and bobbles create the interesting design.

Though I miss the softness of the merino, Domino folds over onto itself very nicely and drapes well.

Back to hats. This is Ellissa Gilbert’s Hazelnut Hat.

The yarn is Jagger Spun of Springvale Maine’s “Super Lamb.” Gilbert’s pattern includes directions for DK  and worsted weight versions. I wanted a hat for a big noggin so I worked the 104 stitch DK version even though I used a worsted. I didn’t think that an 88 stitch hat would work for my bigheads, especially because of the twisted ribbing. The pattern directs you to twist the knit and the purl stitches. I dutifully twisted both and had the very sore hands to prove it. It is a nice effect though.

Pouffy slouchies are a thing these days. Uncuffed, Hazelnut poufs. And cuffing tames its pouf quite nicely.

A solid good hat pattern.

That’s all for today’s blues.

Cowl and Howl

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Nice hat. There’d be room for a pony tail to hang free if you loosen the ties. And if you loosen the ties all the way, there’s room for a neck. Hat plus cowl equals Howl.

Howl, by Kimmy Zalec, is a free Ravlery download designed for exactly the yarn I used: Noro Silk Garden. Silk Garden is 45% mohair, 45% silk, 10% wool and charts out as an Aran weight. Two 50-gram skeins will do the trick and leave you with about 16 grams to spare.

Very cozy and very fun to knit. My Howl was gifted almost as soon as it left my needles. Here’s another look.

It needed blocking to make that unusual picot bind-off behave and to tame its curling. I’m planning to knit another of these soon.

Glass head is wearing Bobble Cowl by Joji Locatelli.

It’s an easy, rhythmic knit, filled with every knitter’s first stitch (garter), but with interesting details. The pattern is 48 rows, to be repeated a dozen times. I had to count rows. And a few times I lost count. But fortunately it’s easy to figure out where you are.

I decided not to block the cowl. I’m satisfied with the yarn-overs not opened up wide. I didn’t want to kill the cushiness of the garter stitch. I prefer a closer fitting cowl rather than one that drapes long.

Bobble cowl is knit flat. I used a crochet provisional cast-on and then grafted the beginning to the end. A three-needle bind off would have worked well too.

This is a new yarn to me. I’m a fan: Dark Side of the Moon by Alexandra’s Crafts in the Twilight colorway. It’s 80% Merino and 20% Tussah Silk. Bobble Cowl is a garter-stitch yarn-eater. So this cowl took nearly every yard of the 434 yard skein.