Malabrigo Ramblestone Cowl Knitting Pattern

Malabrigo Ramblestone Cowl: Seamless Knit Design

What Is Being Made

The Malabrigo Ramblestone is a short cowl pattern designed by Vanessa Putt, featured in Malabrigo Book 8 In Central Park. This intermediate-level knit project creates a finished cowl with a circumference of 24 inches (61 centimeters) and a length of 8 inches (20.5 centimeters), making it an ideal accessory for layering and everyday wear.

Knitting Techniques

This cowl is constructed using seamless, in-the-round knitting, a technique that eliminates the need for seaming by working continuously on circular needles. The pattern employs color work through a charted motif, creating visual interest while maintaining the seamless construction. The design incorporates strategic color changes between two yarn colors to build the finished piece, with sections worked in ribbing for structure and elasticity, alternating with stockinette stitch and charted pattern work for texture and design definition.

Stitches and Stitch Patterns

The Ramblestone uses several fundamental knitting stitches:

• Knit stitch (K) and purl stitch (P) for basic fabric construction
• K2, P2 ribbing worked in multiple sections throughout the pattern, providing elastic cuffs at both the top and bottom of the cowl
• Slip stitch (slip A wyib and slip B wyib) as indicated in the charted pattern, used for color work techniques that create the design motif without carrying yarn across large sections
• Stockinette stitch (knit rounds) as the base for the charted color pattern

The pattern features a 24-stitch repeat worked 8 times around, repeated over 6 rounds and cycled 14 times total, creating a consistent geometric or decorative pattern throughout the cowl's body.

Materials: Yarn and Needles

The Ramblestone is designed to be worked with Rasita by Malabrigo, a merino wool yarn. The pattern requires one 3½-ounce (100-gram) hank each of two colors: #141 Dewberry (Color A) and #33 Cereza (Color B). Each hank provides approximately 310 yards (285 meters) of yardage.

Two circular needles measuring 24 inches (60 centimeters) long are required: one in size 2 (2.75 millimeters) and one in size 3 (3.25 millimeters). The pattern includes the instruction to choose the needle size that achieves the correct gauge. Additionally, stitch markers are needed to mark the beginning of rounds and track pattern repeats.

Gauge and Sizing

The pattern specifies a gauge of 32 stitches and 56 rows over 4 inches (10 centimeters) when worked in the charted pattern using size 3 (3.25 millimeters) needles. Checking gauge before beginning is emphasized as essential for achieving the intended finished measurements of 24 inches circumference and 8 inches length.