International Cowl by Susan Gressman

International Cowl

Knitting
August 2016
DK (11 wpi) ?
21 stitches and 30 rows = 4 inches
in German Herringbone with eyelet
US 7 - 4.5 mm
123 - 383 yards (112 - 350 m)
Short: 5 x 22, Medium: 5 x 40, Long: 5 1/2 x 66
English
This pattern is available as a free Ravelry download

This cowl combines the best of three countries. The main stitch is the German Herringbone Rib. It is separated by a simple 2 stitch Turkish Faggot Lace and the finishing touch is an Italian bind off . The basic pattern consists of a simple 19 stitch/6 row repeat. This makes the pattern easy to personalize by changing the length and/or width without too much complicated math.

The real appeal of this design is that it is reversible. The “wrong side” looks just as good as the “right side”. The second picture of the short version shows the “wrong side”.

Each of the three samples uses one skein of DK weight yarn.
The short version (rust) uses one skein of Knitpicks Gloss, the medium size (turquoise shown wrapped once) uses one skein of Cascade Yarns Elysian, and the long version uses one skein of Cascade Yarns Roslyn (dark blue shown wrapped once and twice). The samples were barely block to retain as much texture as possible.

Gauge is not critical for this project. However, if your gauge is different you might not be able to do as many row repeats before running out of yarn. This design looks best if you end with a row 5 or 6 of the pattern.

The stitch pattern is easy to master and requires nothing more complicated than M1’s and p3tog.

The only notions needed is a stitch marker for the beginning of the round and a tapestry needle to weave in the 2 ends.