Plymouth Yarn Cabled Cowl Knitting Pattern

Plymouth Yarn Cabled Cowl Pattern Summary

What Is Being Made

The Plymouth Yarn Cabled Cowl is a seamless, tubular neck accessory designed to fit an average adult with a 27-inch circumference when unstretched and a finished height of 16 inches when blocked. This cowl provides warmth and style as a versatile layering piece suitable for various occasions and seasons.

Techniques Used

This pattern employs several fundamental knitting techniques to create its structure and visual interest:

• Worked in the Round: The cowl is constructed seamlessly using circular needles, eliminating the need for seaming and creating a continuous tube from cast-on to bind-off.
• Bottom-Up Construction: The pattern begins at the lower edge with a long-tail cast-on and progresses upward to the top edge, allowing knitters to try on the piece as it grows and adjust the final length as needed.
• Cable Work: Two-stitch cable crosses (C6B and C6F) are the primary decorative element, creating dimensional twisted columns that run vertically around the cowl. These cables are worked at regular intervals throughout the piece.
• Ribbing: Knit-purl ribbing sections frame the cable pattern, providing elasticity and a finished appearance at both the top and bottom edges.
• Increases and Decreases: Strategic shaping is incorporated through increase rounds (kf&b technique) and decrease rounds (ssk and k2tog) to transition between the ribbed sections and the wider cable pattern section.

Stitches Used

The Plymouth Yarn Cabled Cowl utilizes a focused selection of essential knitting stitches:

• Knit (K): The primary stitch forming the cable twists and main fabric.
• Purl (P): Used in ribbing and as reverse stockinette background between cable columns.
• Cable Stitches (C6B and C6F): Six-stitch cables created by slipping stitches to a cable needle, holding them either to the back (C6B) or front (C6F), knitting three stitches from the main needle, then knitting the three held stitches. These crosses are worked every six rounds to create the signature cabled texture.
• Knit Front and Back (Kf&b): An increase stitch used in the increase round to expand the stitch count from 180 to 210 stitches.
• Knit Two Together (K2tog) and Slip, Slip, Knit (Ssk): Decrease stitches employed symmetrically in the decrease round to return the stitch count to 180.

Materials and Gauge

The pattern calls for Moon Shadow yarn by Plymouth Yarn, a yarn shown in color 6 Aqua. The cowl requires three 50-gram balls of this yarn, providing approximately 150 grams of fiber for the complete project.

Gauge specifications are critical for achieving the correct finished dimensions. The pattern is designed to be worked at 20 stitches and 30 rows over 4 inches in stockinette stitch on US Size 7 (4.5mm) needles after light blocking. The cable gauge is measured at 12 stitches equaling 2 inches on the same needle size. Achieving proper gauge ensures the cowl will fit comfortably and display the cable pattern at the intended scale.

Needles and notions required: One US Size 7 (4.5mm) circular needle measuring 32 inches in length, one stitch marker to denote the beginning of each round, and one cable needle for managing cable stitches during the crossing process.

Pattern Structure Overview

The cowl is constructed in distinct sections. After casting on 180 stitches, knitters work a 2-inch ribbed cuff using knit-two, purl-two ribbing. An increase round expands the stitch count to 210, accommodating the wider cable pattern. The cable pattern repeat spans 6 rounds and is worked 12 times consecutively for a total of 72 rounds, creating the main textured body of the cowl. A decrease round returns the stitch count to 180 stitches, and the piece concludes with a final ribbed section worked until the cowl reaches approximately 15 inches in total length, finishing with a loose bind-off in ribbing.