Juniper Moon Farm Yaz Cowl Knitting Pattern

Juniper Moon Farm Yaz - The Summer Collection: Capelet/Cowl

What is Being Made

The Yaz is a versatile lace capelet and cowl design by Mari Chiba that serves as a stylish layering piece for warm-weather wardrobes. This garment is specifically engineered to drape elegantly over the shoulders when worn as a capelet, providing modest coverage over sundresses and tank tops while allowing the underlying clothing to remain visible. The design can also be worn scrunched up and styled as a cowl for alternative wear options. The capelet features deliberate shaping that prevents slipping, making it a practical yet fashionable accessory.

Garment Specifications

The Yaz capelet is offered in three sizes with the following finished measurements:

• Size S: Top circumference 29" (74 cm), bottom circumference 36" (91 cm), length 13" (32 cm)
• Size M: Top circumference 32½" (82 cm), bottom circumference 40½" (103 cm), length 13" (32 cm)
• Size L: Top circumference 36" (91 cm), bottom circumference 45" (114 cm), length 13" (32 cm)

Knitting Techniques Used

The Yaz capelet employs strategic gauge changes as its primary shaping technique. This method creates the fitted shoulder area and the flared bottom edge that characterizes the capelet silhouette. The garment is constructed in the round using circular needles, which allows for seamless construction and continuous pattern work. The design incorporates lace patterning throughout, utilizing double yarn overs as a key decorative and structural element. These yarn overs create the openwork characteristic of lace knitting and contribute to the garment's elegant, breathable aesthetic suitable for summer wear.

Stitches and Stitch Patterns

The Yaz features multiple charted lace patterns that progress throughout the construction. The pattern includes four distinct charts (Chart 1, Chart 2, Chart 3, and Chart 4) that guide the lace motifs. Core stitches employed in this design include:

• Knit (k): The fundamental stitch forming the base fabric
• Purl (p): Used in specific sections, particularly in the picot bind-off edge
• Yarn over (yo): Creates the openwork and lace characteristics, including double yarn overs that are worked as k1, p1 into the double yarn over on the following row
• Knit two together (k2tog): A right-leaning decrease used to shape the garment and balance yarn overs
• Slip, slip, knit (ssk): A left-leaning decrease providing additional shaping options
• Slip (sl): Used for edge stitches and pattern transitions

The capelet begins with a picot bind-off at the top edge, which creates a decorative, finished appearance using the cable cast-on method combined with a specialized bind-off technique that produces small picots along the edge.

Materials: Yarn and Needles

The Yaz capelet requires 2 balls of Juniper Moon Farm Zooey yarn in the colorway #2 Toasted Coconut. Zooey is the specific yarn line from Juniper Moon Farm selected for this design.

Three different circular needle sizes are required to achieve the gauge changes that shape the garment:

• US 2 (2.75 mm) 24" (60 cm) circular needle: Used for the initial cast-on and picot bind-off edge
• US 3 (3.25 mm) 32" (80 cm) circular needle: Used for Chart 1 pattern sections, with a gauge of 20 stitches and 32 rows over 4" (10 cm)
• US 4 (3.5 mm) 32" (80 cm) circular needle: Used for Chart 3 pattern sections, with a gauge of 16 stitches and 28 rows over 4" (10 cm)

Additional notions required include a tapestry needle for weaving in ends and stitch markers for tracking pattern repeats and round beginnings during in-the-round construction.