Fairisle Lace Cowl Knitting Pattern

Fairisle Lace Cowl in Plymouth Yarn De Aire

What Is Being Made

This is a circular cowl designed for knitters using Plymouth Yarn's De Aire yarn. The finished cowl measures approximately 10 inches wide by 40 inches long, making it a versatile neckwear piece that can be worn as a single loop or doubled for extra warmth and texture. The design combines fairisle colorwork with lace elements for visual interest and a sophisticated finished look.

Knitting Techniques Used

The Fairisle Lace Cowl employs several intermediate to advanced knitting techniques:

• Fairisle colorwork: Two-color stranded knitting worked in the round, with the contrast color carried along the inside of the cowl during specific rounds to minimize weaving in ends
• In-the-round knitting: Worked on circular needles to create a seamless tubular fabric
• Provisional cast-on: Uses a temporary crochet chain foundation that is later unpicked and grafted to the live stitches
• Kitchener stitch (grafting): A seaming technique that joins the two ends of the cowl together invisibly, creating a continuous loop with no visible seam
• Yarn carrying: Managing two colors while maintaining even tension in fairisle sections

Stitches and Stitch Patterns

The pattern uses fundamental knitting stitches combined in a charted fairisle design:

• Stockinette stitch (st st): The base fabric created by alternating knit and purl rows
• Yarn overs (yo): Used to create the lace element of the design, adding openwork and decorative holes
• Knit stitches: The primary stitch for building the fabric in the round
• Purl stitches: Used as indicated in the charted pattern
• Slip stitches (sl): Employed in the pattern as needed

The design is worked from a charted pattern that is repeated 4 times total, with each complete chart repeat measuring 8 inches in length. The chart is read from right to left for in-the-round knitting, and specific color changes occur during rounds 19-28 of the pattern.

Materials and Yarn

The Fairisle Lace Cowl is designed to be worked with Plymouth Yarn De Aire, a bulky weight yarn:

• Main color (MC): 2 skeins of De Aire in color 100 White (200 grams total)
• Contrast color (CC): 1 skein of De Aire in color 301 Brown (100 grams)

De Aire is a bulky weight yarn that knits quickly and creates a fabric with excellent drape and stitch definition, making it ideal for displaying the fairisle pattern and lace details.

Needles and Tools

The pattern requires specific needle sizes and additional tools to complete the project:

• US Size 15 (10mm) circular needle: 16 inches long for working the main fabric in the round
• US Size 15 (10mm) spare needle: Same length as the main needle, used to hold stitches during the grafting process
• Stitch marker: One marker to denote the beginning of each round
• Large crochet hook: US Size L (8mm) or larger, used to create the provisional cast-on chain
• Bulky weight scrap yarn: Used with the crochet hook for the temporary cast-on foundation

Gauge and Sizing

The pattern is worked at a gauge of 8 stitches and 14 rows over 4 inches in stockinette stitch on US Size 15 (10mm) needles. This gauge is essential for achieving the correct finished dimensions. One complete repeat of the charted pattern measures 8 inches in length, and the cowl is completed after 4 full pattern repeats plus 27 additional rounds, totaling 139 rounds of knitting.