Noro Color Shift Cowl Knitting Pattern

Noro Color Shift Cowl

What Is Being Made

The Noro Color Shift Cowl is a seamless knitted cowl designed to be worked in the round. This project creates a finished cowl with a circumference of 58 inches (147 centimeters) and a length of 8 inches (20.5 centimeters), making it a versatile neckwear piece suitable for layering and everyday wear.

Techniques Used

This cowl is constructed using several key knitting techniques that create visual interest and structural integrity:

• Seamless Construction: The cowl is worked entirely in the round on a circular needle, eliminating the need for seaming and creating a smooth, continuous fabric.
• Stripe Pattern: Color shifts between two distinct yarn colors (Noro Silk Garden Lite #2087 and #2088) create a striped design throughout the piece.
• Short Row Wrap & Turn (w&t): This advanced shaping technique is employed on both right-side and wrong-side rows to create subtle shaping and dimensional effects within the cowl structure.
• Stitch Marker Placement: Markers are used to denote the beginning of rounds and pattern repeats, essential for maintaining accuracy when working in the round.

Stitches Used

The Noro Color Shift Cowl incorporates fundamental knitting stitches combined with decreasing and increasing methods:

• Seed Stitch: The primary stitch pattern used throughout the cowl, creating a textured, reversible fabric. Seed stitch is achieved by alternating knit and purl stitches in a checkerboard pattern.
• Yarn Over (yo): Used to create new stitches and decorative eyelet effects within the pattern.
• Slip, Slip, Knit (ssk) and Slip, Slip, Purl (ssp): Left-leaning decrease stitches created by slipping two stitches knitwise or purlwise individually, then knitting or purling them together.
• Slip Stitch: Stitches passed from the left-hand needle to the right-hand needle without being worked, used for shaping and edge finishing.
• Make One Purl (M1P): An increase stitch that lifts the strand between stitches and purls it to add stitches invisibly within the fabric.
• Selvage Stitch: Edge stitches that facilitate seaming, though minimal seaming is required in this seamless design.

Materials and Tools

The Noro Color Shift Cowl requires specific materials to achieve its intended finished measurements and color-shift effect:

• Yarn: 2 hanks each of Noro Silk Garden Lite in color #2087 (A) and color #2088 (B), providing the color contrast necessary for the striped design and the silk blend for drape and sheen.
• Needles: Size US 7 (4.5mm) circular needle measuring 40 inches (100 centimeters) in length, or the size needed to obtain proper gauge.
• Notions: At least one stitch marker to track the beginning of rounds and pattern repeats.

Gauge

The pattern specifies a gauge of 15 stitches and 16 rows equaling 4 inches (10 centimeters) over seed stitch using size US 7 (4.5mm) needles. Checking gauge before beginning is essential to ensure the finished cowl meets the specified measurements of 58 inches in circumference and 8 inches in length.

Difficulty Level

This project is rated as Easy, making it accessible to knitters with basic to intermediate experience. While the seamless in-the-round construction and short row shaping techniques require some foundational knowledge, the straightforward stitch patterns and clear construction method make this cowl an excellent project for developing skills in circular knitting and color work.