Cherry Blossom Cowl

Cherry Blossom Cowl

Holy moly. It's been a bit of a stressful morning; not only was the baby unwilling to eat or sleep, but he also spent an hour or two screaming nonstop. Finally, after carrying him around and trying to make him happy all morning, I needed some lunch, so I heated up some pizza. And despite the fact that he had rejected cereal, strawberries, and a squish bag full of baby food, he went DOWNTOWN on the pizza, and now he's happy as a clam. Clearly, he needs to learn how to talk.

And speaking of talking, I should say a word about this piece! First, the name - it's a late spring here in Wisconsin, and the cherry trees are spreading those delightful, pale pink blossoms that I love so much. The color of this cowl and the bobbles reminded me of them. And yes, you're right - it is my first time knitting bobbles! Turns out it's not so hard. So if you haven't done it before, this lovely, lightweight piece is a great place to start!

Yarn: Cascade Yarns Sateen (100% Acrylic; 300.7 yards [275 meters]/100 grams); #7 Ballerina Pink - one skein

Needles: One 16" circular needle in size US 5

Notions: Tapestry needle, three stitch markers

Gauge: 22 stitches = 4 inches

Anyway, let's get started! First, then, we'll cast on 152 stitches loosely, place marker, and join in round. As a note, this piece will be fitting pretty close to the head (my finished piece is about 20" in circumference, unstretched). And while I have no trouble getting it over my 22" noggin, you may want to cast on a few extra stitches if you have a larger head. Just let me know if you need help modifying the pattern! Anyway, let's continue. It's time to knit the following set-up row, to get started:

Set-up Row: p21, place marker, p110, place marker, purl until end of round

And once this bad boy is out of the way, it's time to begin on our main pattern, which incorporates a large section of Field of Wheat from page 278 of Barbara G. Walker's A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns and some decreases, since I am obsessed with a nicely-shaped cowl. Anyway, to continue, you'll need the following notation:

mb (make bobble): (k1, yo, k1, yo, k1) in one stitch, which will turn one stitch into five; turn and k5; turn and p5; turn and k1, slip 1-k2tog-psso, k1; turn and p3tog, which completes bobble. When you reach this stitch again on the following row, knit through the back loop of the bobble stitch rather than the front loop. 

And now that that's out of the way, let's get knitting!

Row 1: knit until you have two stitches before first marker, k2tog, slip marker, * k1, mb, k2, yo, k1, yo, k4, k2tog; rep from * until you reach next marker, slip marker, ssk, knit until end of round

Rows 2, 4, 6, 8, & 10: knit until you reach first marker, slip marker, * k10, k2tog * until you reach second marker, slip marker, knit until end of round

Row 3: knit until you have two stitches before first marker, k2tog, slip marker, * k5, yo, k1, yo, k3, k2tog * until you reach next marker, slip marker, ssk, knit until end of round

Row 5: knit until you have two stitches before first marker, k2tog, slip marker, * k6, yo, k1, yo, k2, k2tog * until you reach next marker, slip marker, ssk, knit until end of round

Row 7: knit until you have two stitches before first marker, k2tog, slip marker, * k7, (yo, k1) twice, k2tog * until you reach next marker, slip marker, ssk, knit until end of round

Row 9: knit until you have two stitches before first marker, k2tog, slip marker, * k8, yo, k1, yo, k2tog * until you reach next marker, slip marker, ssk, knit until end of round

Row 11: knit until you have two stitches before first marker, k2tog, slip marker, * ssk, k4, yo, k1, yo, k2, mb, k1 * until you reach next marker, slip marker, ssk, knit until end of round

Rows 12, 14, 16, 18, & 20: knit until you reach first marker, slip marker, * ssk, k10 * until you reach second marker, slip marker, knit until end of round

Row 13: knit until you have two stitches before first marker, k2tog, slip marker, * ssk, k3, yo, k1, yo, k5 * until you reach next marker, slip marker, ssk, knit until end of round

Row 15: knit until you have two stitches before first marker, k2tog, slip marker, * ssk, k2, yo, k1, yo, k6 * until you reach next marker, slip marker, ssk, knit until end of round  

Row 17: knit until you have two stitches before first marker, k2tog, slip marker, * ssk, (k1, yo) twice, k7 * until you reach next marker, slip marker, ssk, knit until end of round   

Row 19: knit until you have two stitches before first marker, k2tog, slip marker, * ssk, yo, k1, yo, k8 * until you reach next marker, slip marker, ssk, knit until end of round    

Knit rows 1 - 20 twice, at which point you should have only one stitch between your row marker and your first stitch marker (and your row marker and your second stitch marker). Remove extra stitch markers. Now that we're done decreasing, we'll continue in the same pattern as before, except without the decreases (I am the master of the obvious!). So, in case you'd like it restated, we'll continue like so:

Row 1: k1, * k1, mb, k2, yo, k1, yo, k4, k2tog; rep from * until you're one stitch before end of round, k1

Rows 2, 4, 6, 8, & 10: k1, * k10, k2tog * until you're one stitch before end of round, k1

Row 3: k1, * k5, yo, k1, yo, k3, k2tog * until you're one stitch before end of round, k1

Row 5: k1, * k6, yo, k1, yo, k2, k2tog * until you're one stitch before end of round, k1

Row 7: k1, * k7, (yo, k1) twice, k2tog * until you're one stitch before end of round, k1

Row 9: k1, * k8, yo, k1, yo, k2tog * until you're one stitch before end of round, k1

Row 11: k1, * ssk, k4, yo, k1, yo, k2, mb, k1 * until you're one stitch before end of round, k1

Rows 12, 14, 16, 18, & 20: k1, * ssk, k10 * until you're one stitch before end of round, k1

Row 13: k1, * ssk, k3, yo, k1, yo, k5 * until you're one stitch before end of round, k1

Row 15: k1, * ssk, k2, yo, k1, yo, k6 * until you're one stitch before end of round, k1

Row 17: k1, * ssk, (k1, yo) twice, k7 * until you're one stitch before end of round, k1

Row 19: k1, * ssk, yo, k1, yo, k8 * until you're one stitch before end of round, k1

Knit rows 1 - 20 once, and then knit rows 1 & 2 once more. Bind off loosely, remembering that this thing is going to fit pretty close to your head, and you'd REALLY like to be able to get it on (so really, try to bind off loosely!). Tuck in ends and block.