Malabrigo Washington Square Cowl Knitting Pattern

Malabrigo Washington Square Mosaic Cowl

What is Being Made

The Malabrigo Washington Square is a mosaic cowl designed by Yoko Hatta. This is a seamless, worked-in-the-round cowl featuring a distinctive tapered silhouette that transitions from a wider lower edge to a narrower upper edge. The finished cowl measures approximately 37½ inches (100 cm) around the lower edge, 31 inches (78.5 cm) around the upper edge, and 13½ inches (34 cm) in depth, making it a versatile neckwear piece suitable for layering and everyday wear.

Techniques Used

This pattern employs several key knitting techniques to achieve its final form:

• Bottom-up construction: The cowl is worked from the lower edge upward, beginning with a cast-on of 150 stitches
• Seamless, worked-in-the-round: The entire cowl is knitted circularly using circular needles, eliminating the need for seaming and creating a continuous fabric
• Stripes and color work: The design incorporates two Malabrigo yarn colors—Tobaccos (A) and Aniversario (B)—to create visual interest and pattern definition
• Shaping through needle size changes: The tapered silhouette is achieved by progressively changing to smaller circular needles (from 10½mm down to 8mm), which naturally reduces the fabric width without decreasing stitches

Stitches Used

The Washington Square cowl utilizes a specialized mosaic pattern stitch worked over a 10-stitch multiple. This stitch combines several fundamental techniques:

• Slip stitches (sl1wyib): Stitches slipped with yarn in back create the characteristic texture and color blocking of the mosaic pattern
• Knit and purl stitches: Alternating knit (k) and purl (p) stitches form the structural foundation and contribute to the pattern's visual definition
• Ribbing: A 1×1 rib (k1, p1) is worked at both the beginning and end of the cowl for elastic edges that maintain shape and provide comfortable wear

The mosaic pattern itself repeats over 16 rounds, with the pattern shifting midway through the cowl to create dynamic visual interest. The pattern stitch is worked for a total of 88 rounds across three different needle sizes before finishing with 4 rounds of 1×1 ribbing and binding off.

Materials and Gauge

The Malabrigo Washington Square is designed to be worked with Mecha by Malabrigo, a superwash merino wool yarn. The pattern requires 3½ ounces (100 grams) per hank, with each hank yielding approximately 130 yards (119 meters). The color palette consists of:

• 2 hanks in #878 Tobaccos (A) for the primary color
• 1 hank in #005 Aniversario (B) for the contrasting color

The pattern requires three circular needles in sizes 8, 10, and 10½ (5mm, 6mm, and 6.5mm respectively), each measuring 29 inches (74 cm) long or sized to obtain gauge. Additional notions include a stitch marker and a tapestry needle for weaving in ends.

The recommended gauge is 16 stitches and 27 rounds over 4 inches (10 cm) in mosaic pattern stitch using a size 10 (6mm) needle. Achieving accurate gauge is essential for obtaining the correct finished measurements and proper cowl fit.

Skill Level and Finishing

This pattern is rated as Easy, making it accessible to knitters with basic to intermediate experience. The straightforward construction—combining simple stitches with a logical progression of needle size changes—allows knitters to focus on maintaining consistent tension and following the mosaic pattern repeat.

Finishing involves weaving in yarn ends using a tapestry needle on the wrong side, followed by blocking. The completed cowl should be laid flat on a wet terry-cloth towel and lightly steamed to the specified measurements, then left to dry completely to set the fabric and