Swans Island Brooke Cowl Knitting Pattern

Swans Island Brooke Cowl

What is Being Made

The Brooke Cowl is a seamless, tubular cowl neck warmer featuring a classic Nordic snowflake pattern. This intermediate-level knitting project creates a continuous loop with a finished circumference of 47½ inches and a length of 5¼ inches. The cowl is designed to be worn doubled up for extra warmth and style, making it an elegant accessory for cold weather.

Techniques Used

This cowl is constructed using several key knitting techniques:

• Bottom-up construction: The piece is cast on and worked from the bottom edge upward to the top edge.
• Seamless, worked in the round: Using circular needles, the cowl is knitted continuously in rounds, eliminating the need for seaming and creating a smooth, polished finish.
• Stranded colorwork: A simple two-color stranded technique is employed to create the snowflake pattern. This traditional method involves carrying the unused yarn color inside the fabric while knitting with the active color, allowing both colors to be visible on the right side of the work.
• Ribbing: The cowl begins and ends with knit-purl ribbing (k1, p1) for 2 rounds on each end, providing elasticity and a finished edge.

Stitches Used

The Brooke Cowl uses fundamental knitting stitches combined into a structured pattern:

• Knit stitch (k): The primary stitch used throughout the ribbing sections and as the base for the stranded colorwork.
• Purl stitch (p): Used in alternation with knit stitches to create the k1, p1 ribbed edges.
• Snowflake Pattern: A charted 14-stitch repeat pattern worked over 14 rounds. The pattern alternates between knitting with the main color (MC) and contrast color (CC), creating a geometric Nordic snowflake motif. After the initial two-round transition with the contrast color, the pattern is worked once completely (Rounds 1–14), then partially repeated (Rounds 1–11) before finishing with two more rounds of contrast color and returning to the main color.

Materials

The Brooke Cowl is knitted with premium natural fiber yarns in two coordinating colors:

• Main Color (MC): One skein of Swans Island Natural Colors 100% Organic Merino Wool in worsted weight (100 grams, 250 yards). The color shown is Seasmoke (YW221).
• Contrast Color (CC): One skein of Swans Island Natural Colors 85% Organic Merino Wool, 15% Alpaca blend in worsted weight (100 grams, 250 yards). The color shown is Charcoal (YW213).
• Needles: US Size 6 (4 mm) circular needle for ribbing sections and US Size 7 (4.5 mm) circular needle for the main pattern work. Both needles are 32 inches in length to accommodate the large circumference.
• Notions: A stitch marker to denote the beginning of each round and a yarn needle for weaving in ends during finishing.

Gauge and Sizing

The pattern is worked at a gauge of 5 stitches by 6½ rounds per 1 inch in the Snowflake Pattern. The cowl is offered in one size with a finished circumference of 47½ inches and a length of 5¼ inches. Checking gauge before beginning is essential to achieve the intended fit. The pattern notes that one skein of each color will also make a coordinating pair of Brooke Mitts.

Design Details

Designed by Michele Rose Orne, the Brooke Cowl combines traditional Nordic snowflake motifs with contemporary construction methods. The use of organic merino and alpaca blend yarns provides softness, breathability, and natural temperature regulation. The stranded colorwork technique creates a reversible fabric with color on both sides, and the seamless construction ensures comfort when worn close to the neck. The cowl's generous length allows for versatile styling, whether worn as a single layer or doubled up for added warmth and visual impact.