Dot Knot Cowl

Dot Knot Cowl

I've been on a clean design kick lately, so when I saw this understated stitch pattern I just knew I had to try it. From there, it was just a matter of choosing a yarn and an edging to match (the top edging is also rolled down, which adds a fun touch). One word of caution, however; I wouldn't knit this pattern with a darkly-colored yarn, as the stitch pattern would probably get swallowed up in the hue.

Yarn: Cascade Yarns Cotton Rich DK (64% Cotton, 36% Nylon; 135.60 yards [124 meters]/50 grams); #2730 - two skeins

A closer look at the dotty little pattern.
Subtle, but nice!

Needles: One 16" circular needle in size US 6

Notions: Tapestry needle, stitch marker

Gauge: 22 stitches = 4 inches

So let's make a cowl! To do it, we'll cast on 114 stitches loosely, place marker, and join in round. And then we'll get to our edging stitch, which is Close Stitch from page 94 of Barbara G. Walker's A Treasury of Knitting Patterns. And it goes like so:

Edging Row 1: purl

Edging Row 2: * slip 1 with yarn in back (sl1 wyib), k1; rep from *

Knit edging rows 1 & 2 until piece measures roughly 1/2" and you've just finished row 2 of the edging. Then we'll begin our main pattern, which is Dot-Knot stitch from page 125 of Barbara G. Walker's A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns, except adapted for the round. But before we get to that, let's define our terminology. You can find a video for the dot knot stitch below, and then a written description after that. :)

dot knot (dk): insert the tip of your right-hand needle under running thread between the first and second stitches on your left-hand needle and draw a loop of yarn loosely through, as if you're knitting. Repeat the procedure above the running thread, drawing another loop loosely through. Bring yarn forward between needles and purl the first stitch from your left-hand needle. Using the tip of your left-hand needle, lift first loop from right-hand needle and pass it over the second loop and your purled stitch; then lift second loop and pass it over your purled stitch as well.

Now that that's out of the way, let's proceed like so:

Rows 1 - 3: knit

Row 4: * k1, dk, k4 *

Rows 5 - 7: knit

Row 8: * k4, dk, k1 *

Knit rows 1 - 8 until piece measures roughly 6.5" and you've just finished row 3 or row 7 of the pattern. Remove your row marker, since you'll be knitting back and forth instead of in the round from now on. As the top portion of this cowl is designed to fold over, what was our wrong side is now going to be our right side. With that in mind, we'll knit one right side row (formerly wrong side row) as a transition. And it will go like so:

Transition Row (right side): ssk, * slip 1 with yarn in back (sl1 wyib), k1; rep from *

Once that's done, we'll continue with our edging as follows:

Edging Row 1 (wrong side): knit

Edging Row 2: k1, * slip 1 with yarn in back (sl1 wyib), k1; rep from *

Knit edging rows 1 & 2 until top edging measures roughly 1.5" and you've just finished row 2 of the pattern. Bind off loosely, tuck in ends, and block. Fold over top edge to expose right side.