Alewives

I love herringbone patterns. So simple to work – just knits and purls – but such a rich and fascinating result. Perfect for adding textural spice to an easy knit like the Alewives cowl.

The idea behind Alewives was to create a simple cowl using easily memorized stitch patterns, but to make it interesting enough to be fun and engaging. The design features panels of herringbone and panels of garter ridges moving together around the cowl in a rhythmic sequence that keeps the knitting galloping along.

Worked in the round, Alewives is written for two sizes: a 24" / 62 cm diameter single loop, and a 49" / 124 cm loop that can be worn as a long infinity scarf, or doubled around the neck for more warmth. The smaller cowl uses approximately 250 yards of a light worsted yarn. About 500 yards is needed for the longer version. Stitch patterns are provided in both charted and written form.

The sample is worked in Swans Island Natural Colors Merino Worsted, in the Bittersweet color. This glorious organic Merino yarn is spun and hand dyed in Maine using natural dyestuffs and traditional dyeing methods. Their processes create deep, layered, tonal colors that glow with life and subtly enhance stitch patterns. It was a great fit for Alewives.

Okay, so what's an alewife? It's a fat little fish that looks a lot like a herring…. You can find the Alewives cowl pattern in the Blue Bee Studio Ravelry store.

Greenwillow

A new year calls for a new pattern, and with all the snow we've gotten over the past few weeks, nothing fits the bill like a cozy cowl.

Greenwillow features a dimensional lattice texture accentuated by crisp linear edge details. The pattern is written for two lengths, a simple 21.5" loop, and a 43" loop that can be worn as a long infinity scarf or doubled around the neck for extra warmth.

Knit in String Theory's Blue Faced Sport in Jade, the yarn's subtle tonal variations and incredible luster perfectly complement the latticework pattern.

Greenwillow can be found in the Blue Bee Studio Ravelry store.

Norden revisited

For a while now I've been itching to cast on for a longer version of the Norden Cowl. Over the Thanksgiving holiday I was looking for a good travel project, and thought of Norden. It's a simple lace motif that fit the bill perfectly for not-fully-mindful knitting.

For this longer, lacier version I used fingering-weight Spirit Trail Fiberworks Sunna in Kismet. I doubled the number of repeats around the circumference, and worked one vertical repeat less. The finished cowl is about 46" around, and 5" tall. It used less than 200 yards of the lovely Sunna.