Seven New Free Cowl Patterns to Warm Up Your Needles

I’m kind of obsessed with checking out the new projects on Ravelry. It’s how I find a lot of the patterns I shared with you, and this afternoon while I was checking it out there were no fewer than seven new cowl knitting patterns that had been posted in the past few days.

I have a feeling that means fall is coming and that we’re all looking forward to having the need to warm our necks!

Because there are so many, I’ll be brief, but hopefully give you enough intel so you’ll know which ones you want to check out.

Two of them — the Manly Mossy Cowl from Wool & Flax and the Ninja Turtle Infinity Scarf from a knitter of Craftster who goes by the nickname Bananaleg — use what I would call seed stitch worked flat and in the round, respectively. (Seed stitch is called moss stitch in other parts of the world; confusing, right?) I’ve been craving a seed stitch (or moss stitch) cowl so either of these would be great for me right now. Oh, wait, here’s another seed stitch one, from This Girl Loves to Craft, which she worked from the short side and called the Buenos Aires Cowl.

Danish designer Nanna Gudmand-Høyer has a lovely colorwork pattern called Galianthus, which I will admit I could not get to translate on my computer but I didn’t try very hard.

The Almost Fur Cowl from ABC Knitting Patterns is a top-down, circular knit, shaped cowl (bordering on poncho, but shorter) that combines a furry novelty yarn with a self-striping yarn for a bold but easy project.

The knitter with the awesomely named blog One Geek to Craft Them All finished a project for the Ravellenic Games: a self-designed cabled cowl made from homespun called Girl on Fire. It’s absolutely beautiful (it’s the one pictured) and would be great knit from a heavy worsted non-homespun if you don’t happen to be a spinner.

Finally there’s Haldjas, a lovely lacy cowl from Estonian knitwear designers Kärt Urman. This one is a PDF (scroll down to the bottom of that page and click the link) and it’s in English, though of course you could work it out from the chart, too. Haldjas, she tells us, means fairy in Estonian, and this lacy mohair wrapper certainly is ethereal!

[Photo by One Geek to Craft Them All.]

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Blankets are a great blank slate project that you can change up in a million different ways. From color to stitch pattern to size, the possibilities are almost endless.

Jared Flood, the designer behind Brooklyn Tweed, was inspired by a log cabin quilt his mother made in 1995 to re-create that design in knitting, which led to more blankets and ultimate Brooklyn Tweed’s Knit and Crochet Blankets, which includes 25 patterns from an array of designers using different skills and techniques to make cozy, pretty blankets.

The patterns are divided into three aesthetic themes: traditions, minimalism and colorplay. The patterns are rated on a scale of one to five, with one being the easiest, and there aren’t any pieces rated five. Two blankets are rated one, 14 are two, eight are three and one is four.

In addition, three of the 25 patterns are crocheted, but they either use single crochet or granny stitch, so they are pretty easy even if you don’t do a lot of crochet. You can see all the patterns on Ravelry.

Some of my favorites include Rattan by Rastus Hsu, a chunky blanket worked in knits and purls with simple crossing stitches to make a raised woven look; Homewood by Seth Richardson, covers in dramatic, loopy cables; Ainur Berkimbayeva’s Tessellate, one of the beginner projects that doesn’t really look beginner but is totally worked in knit and purl stitches; Warp + Weft by Aist? Butkevi?ien?, which is mostly knits and purls but makes a fun woven look fabric that blew my mind a little bit; and the same designer’s Canyonland, a multicolored blanket with wavy stripes.

The patterns tell you how to resize them for different dimensions and include information on pattern repeats where it is possible to make a totally custom size.

Many different techniques are included here such as cables, lace, shadow knitting, intarsia and other colorwork techniques, as well as modular knitting and lots of sewing pieces together. The patterns are all presented with charts, but there are line by line written instructions available on the Brooklyn Tweed website if you need them.

The book ends with a deep dive into log cabin knitting, telling the story of the quilt Jared’s mom made and how he made it in knitting, as well as the multitude of variations you can make if you want your own log cabin style design.

The back of the book includes a little written information about some of the special techniques needed, but there are no photos.

This is a lovely book full of inspiration for knitting and crochet blankets for any skill level. If you like to make blankets as gifts or aspire to have a handmade blanket in every room of the house, these designs would be a great place to start.

About the book: 192 pages, paperback, 25 patterns. Published 2024 by Abrams Books, suggested retail price $24.99.

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