…rainbow herringbone cowl…

Oh man, I have badly neglected this space, haven’t I? I do miss it, and am hoping to get into a better rhythm of both crafting and sharing, both my projects and the fun stuff behind the scenes that has kept me away!

Something I have made in the interim, has been this sweet cowl. A while back I was approached by American Yarns, asking if I would be interested in using some of their yarn for a project, as well as maybe giving away some as well. Um, heck yes! The chance to craft completely guilt-free, AND share the love as well? Sign me up!

I chose Red Heart Unforgettable Waves in the Parade colourway and it is so nice and soft! I wanted to just hold it and pet it! But that wasn’t part of the deal, unfortunately, so project time it was, and I chose to make a cowl, as my wardrobe is generally very neutral, so it would be a lovely pop of colour.

In the spirit of sharing & paying it forward, I also wanted to share how I worked it up, after adapting this stitch pattern from an old knitting dictionary my mother in law gave me almost a decade ago (have I really been blogging that long??). This ended up being such a quick knit. The yarn isn’t a typical twist style yarn, more a roving style I guess? It was lovely to work with, though if I wasn’t paying attention my pointy wooden knitpicks needles had a tendency to split the fibres – completely my fault for trying to multitask! When I focused on what I was doing, the yarn worked up like any other (and full disclaimer – I have a tendency to split yarn anyway. I think I tension it around my fingers against its natural twist? So it’s definitely user error and not the yarn!). I knitted it in the round, on 6mm circular needles, and am so happy with how the herringbone style shows off the variations in both colour and yarn weight.

To create your own, cast on in multiples of 8, and knit two full rounds. Then to create the pattern:

Row 1: *knit 4, yarn fwd, slip 4, yarn back, repeat from *

Row 2: knit

Row 3: knit 5, *yarn fwd, slip 4, yarn back, knit 4, repeat from * to last three stitches, yarn fwd, slip 3, yarn back

Row 4: knit

Row 5: slip 2, *knit 4, yarn fwd, slip 4, yarn back, repeat from * to last two stitches, yarn forward, slip two, slip beginning two stitches, yarn back, transfer last two slips back to original needle

Row 6: knit

Row 7: slip 3, *knit 4, yarn fwd, slip 4, yarn back, repeat from * to last stitch, yarn forward, slip one, slip beginning three stitches, yarn back, transfer last three slips back to original needle

Row 8: knit

Row 9: *yarn fwd, slip 4, yarn back, knit 4, repeat from * to end

Row 10: knit

Row 11: knit one, *yarn fwd, slip 4, yarn back, knit 4, repeat from * to end (last knit section will be only three stitches)

Row 12: knit

Row 13: knit two, *yarn fwd, slip 4, yarn back, knit 4, repeat from * to end (last knit section will be only two stitches)

Row 14: knit

Row 15: knit three, *yarn fwd, slip 4, yarn back, knit 4, repeat from * to end (last knit section will be only one stitch)

Row 16: knit

Row 17 onward: repeat pattern from row one

Knit final two rows and cast off.

Want to make your own? I have ball of this yarn to giveaway with thanks to the lovely ladies at American Yarns, and I would love to send it your way!

HOW TO ENTER:

*leave a comment below telling me your favourite craft (1 entry)

*for a bonus entry – follow me on Instagram (@barefootcrafter) and leave your IG handle in the comments so I can look out for you

*another bonus entry – tag a crafty friend on my IG post sharing this project

I will keep the giveaway open until August 23, and will update this post and Instagram with the winner, as well as contact you by email.

(The materials for this project and also the giveaway were gifted by American Yarns. The project and the content of this post are of my own choosing and creation.)