Knit a Cowl Full of Variations

I love to see variations on knitting patterns. It’s fun to see what knitters do with a designer’s ideas, and as a designer sometimes it’s fun to think about different ways that you could do things and change the look or feel of a project.

Tif Neilan played with this idea herself with a set of two bandana cowls called Variations.

These projects are both worked in five colors of sport weight yarn, and they’re worked flat in interrupted stripes of garter stitch in different colors. There is shaping worked in different sections to give it the shape it has, and you work a three-needle bind off to finish the project and join it into a cowl.

The bind off is meant to be visible, but since the rest of the project is garter stitch you can decide to wear the seam side in if you’d rather.

The difference between the two projects is their size, with cowl 1 being a smaller version and cowl 2 more like a shawl.

The first variation measures about 24 inches/60 cm around the neck and is 20.5 inches/51 cm long and the longest point. The second option is around 25 inches/62.5 cm neck circumference and 28.5 inches/71 long when worn. The smaller one uses 400-450 yards (402-411 meters) of yarn, while the larger calls for 655 to 660 (599 to 604 meters).

It could go without saying that this would be a great stash busting project where you could change colors even more often as you run out of yarn. But if you know me you know I’m never going to go without saying it. So grab your leftovers and get to stitching, why don’t you?

Both of the patterns are on Ravelry: Variations Cowl 1 and Variations Cowl 2. Don’t miss the projects tabs to see all the, uh, variations, different people have made!

[Photo: Tif Neilan]

Giveaway: 60 Quick Cowls

It’s All About Cowls – Free Pattern

As we get into the part of the year with a lot of food-forward holidays, it might be time to start thinking about knitting some new things for your table. While a few of these are more fall/Thanksgiving focused, just changing up the colors would make others work for Christmas, or keep it neutral and use them all year long.

What got me started thinking about this was the lovely and simple Fresh Bread Dishtowel, a free pattern from Purl Soho. Worked in a lovely cotton and linen blend, the towel is mostly stockinette stitch with a bit of texture on the borders.

You could use this same kind of pattern to make anything from placemats to a table runner, but let’s look at some specific patterns for those kinds of projects as well.

The easy moss stitch table runner from Glass Bird Knits is beginner friendly can can easily be modified to fit your table (or, again, to make placemats instead of or in addition to a runner). This version is worked in macrame cord, but you could also use bulky yarn.

Emielle Design has a garter stitch runner pattern that’s made with braided cotton cord for a lot of texture without a lot of work. But be sure to take a lot of breaks when knitting with cord because it can be rough on your hands!

I also love the diamond pattern on the Hamilton Table Runner from Wyndlestraw Designs. It calls for a DK weight cotton and linen blend yarn and comes in three sizes with different widths and lengths. The pattern has both written and charted instructions.

Amy Marie’s Table Pumpkins (on Ravelry) is a fun mosaic knitting pattern that would be great to use as a table runner through the fall and for Thanksgiving. It uses a worsted weight cotton yarn in two colors, and you can make it as long as you like for your table.

The no cable knit placemats from Yarn Culture Studio have a fun faux cable look that would be great for the table through the fall and winter.

Or here’s another pattern from Wyndlestraw Designs, this time for an easy knit and purl stitch placemat pattern that looks different but still good on both sides. It calls for worsted weight cotton and comes in two sizes for placemats, but also has instructions for coasters, a hot pad and a table pad all using the same stitch.

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