A Manly Cowl
Harmonia's Rings Cowl
A manly cowl pattern is not an easy find. This moebius cowl pattern is Harmonia’s Rings by Sivia Harding, with a slight alteration, a color choice, and a yarn choice by me to make it more manly. The alteration is that I chose to do an I-cord bind-off when she calls for a beaded picot bind-off along the collar edge. I chose a heavier yarn (chunky rather than aran) to give the cowl more volume (definitely the trend this fall) and a charcoal color for a manly hue. The yarn is Cocoon by Rowan, a roving yarn made of 80% Merino Wool and 20% Kid Mohair, Colorway is 805, Mountain. The yarn was wonderful to knit and the cowl is so comfortable to wear. Unlike a scarf, it stays put and warms both neck and upper body.
Cowl Back
The moebius cast-on is not hard if you follow this video step by step, and a moebius is so fun to knit. Unlike most knitting, where the knitted fabric grows from one edge of a knitting needle, a moebius project grows from the center outward along two opposite edges. This is due to a loop you form in the cast-on with a long circular needle, and deliberately twisting the cable one time, so you have twisted knitting.
Close up image is lightened so you can see the detail in the cowl pattern.
If you want to find out all the things you can do with moebius knitting, you should take a workshop with Cat Bordhi and/or try to locate her two books, A Treasury of Magical Knitting and A Second Treasury of Magical Knitting. Both books are out of print, but you can still find the Second Treasury available at its regular retail price here and there. If you can find the first Treasury at the regular retail price, snatch it up! It is almost impossible to find, and now regularly sells for several hundred dollars. Rumor has it that Cat may release these books electronically in the future, or at least portions of them. So you should check out her website for updates. However, be warned! Moebius knitting can be addictive! You can do everything from cowls and hat brims to felted baskets and pet beds. I want to experiment with more moebius cowls, including designing a few. The key is finding a great reversible pattern, since a moebius shows both sides of the knitted fabric, and a repeat structure that can accent those patterns.
By the way, the Northcoast Knittery, Eureka, CA will be hosting Sivia Harding for two workshops on July 21 and 22, 2012. She is a fabulous teacher, and the two workshops are going to be fantastic. Here’s a description of each one:
Fill a Triangle with Lace Workshop: Sivia gives you the tools to access your inner designer in this gentle and supportive workshop. You will learn all the skills you need to design your own top-down triangle shawl. In this class, we examine the structure of the basic top-down triangle shawl and insert our choice of lace patterns to create an original design, with an eye to shaping, esthetics, and flow. Charting patterns, shaping lace in pattern, modulation from one pattern to another, and types of edgings will be discussed. Students receive the benefit of Sivia’s years of experience in designing innovative lace shawls and exceptional beaded lace. This workshop is the perfect blend of lace design skills, inspiration and discovery.
Harmonia’s Rings Sweater: The Harmonia’s Rings sweater uses Cat Bordhi’s Moebius cast on to achieve the mysterious spiral neck shape, features an easy and addictive self-pleating knit and purl stitch pattern that creates concentric rings reminiscent of ancient architecture. This class includes many techniques: the Moebius cast on, beaded picot bind off, knitting the texture pattern in the round, shaping within the Moebius structure, including how to separate the body and sleeves, along with ways to customize the pattern to fit any body type.
Contact Northcoast Knittery at 707-442-9276 or info@northcoastknittery.com to request more information and/or to sign up.