Almendra Cowl

This cowl is made up of almond shaped short row sequences - with full rows in a contrast colour inbetween.

I like my cowls to fit around my neck twice. Threrefore this cowl is double-length, with a circumference of 140 cm - after blocking. It measures between 20 and 25 cm in height.



This work by Knitting and so on is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.





A Czech translation has been provided by Raveler Nemravka. It is available here. Děkuju mnohokrát!


Materials

• 150 grams of worsted weight yarn in Main Colour (MC)
• 50 grams of worsted weight yarn in Contrast Colour (CC, beige on the photos)
• 5.5mm circular knitting needles
• 11 stitch markers (one different from the others)
• tapestry needle to weave in ends

I used some Noro Kurayon (Colourway 40 as MC and Colourway 211E as CC) that I've had in my stash for quite a while.

General Construction
Knitted in the round, this cowl consist of almond shaped short row sequences that are knitted one after another. When one layer is finished,  two full rows are knitted in a contrast colour. The next layer starts with an offset of 10 stitches.

Techniques

• Short rows with double stitches (German short rows, t+p): when you turn, bring yarn to the front and pull it back so that a sort of "double-stitch" is created, then knit back as usual - when you have to knit the double-stitch, be careful to knit it as one stitch (see also https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6n561SMZXQ); this method has the advantage the no picking up of stitches is necessary. In the pattern, this stitch will be called t+p (turn and pull).
• Cheats to avoid cutting yarn: Since I try out a lot (and consequently frog a lot), I avoid cutting yarn at all costs. That's why I'd rather strand yarn over a few stitches (or more) or slip a few stitches. In case of this pattern, this is necessary to get either MC or CC yarn to the start of the new row.
  The picture below shows how this stranding looks from the WS. The encircled numbers show where a new layer starts ("1" = start of first layer, "2" = start of second layer etc.)

Instructions
With CC CO 200 putting a stitch marker after every 20th stitch
Place last stitch marker and join in round (careful not to twist the stitches)
Purl one round, place a different marker to mark the end or round (this marker ("end marker") will be moved).

First Layer (Odd-numbered Layers)
Attach MC and with MC knit the first almond-section as follows
R1 (RS): k20 (i.e. to next marker, left border marker), t+p (turn and pull, see Techniques section)
R2 (WS): k20 (i.e. back to last marker and one stitch further), t+p
R3 (RS): k18, t+p
R4 (WS): k16, t+p
R5 (RS): k14, t+p
R6 (WS): k12, t+p
R7 (RS): k10, t+p
R8 (WS): k8, t+p
R9 (RS): k6, t+p
R10 (WS): k4, t+p
R11 (RS): k5, t+p
R12 (WS): k6, t+p
R13 (RS): k8, t+p
R14 (WS): k10, t+p
R15 (RS): k12, t+p
R16 (WS): k14, t+p
R17 (RS): k16, t+p
R18 (WS): k18, t+p
R19 (RS): k19 (i.e. to left border marker), and DON'T TURN
Continue from Row 1 and knit the next almond-section.

The picture below gives a sketch of the rows in relation to the stitch markers in odd numbered layers.

When you have finished the "almond section" that reaches the end marker or after you have knitted 10 "almonds" switch to CC.

With CC knit one round (stranding MC over the first 10 stitches) - please be careful to knit the double-stitches as one stitch (here the double stitches are the one just before and just after the stitch marker)
Purl one round. Remove the end marker, slip ten stitches, place the end marker.
(If - unlike me - you haven't got a problem with cutting yarn, you can alternatively break MC, knit one round in CC, purl one round in CC, cut CC, remove end marker, slip ten stitches, place end marker and then attach MC to start again.)

Second Layer (Even-Numbered Layers)
With MC start knitting the next almond - however, it is not knitted in the 20 sts between two stitch markers, but around one stitch marker (10 stitches on the left hand side and 10 stitches on the right hand side of the stitch marker).

R1 (RS): k20 (i.e. to next marker, left border marker), t+p (turn and pull, see Techniques section)
R2 (WS): k20 (i.e. back to last marker and one stitch further), t+p
R3 (RS): k18, t+p
R4 (WS): k16, t+p
R5 (RS): k14, t+p
R6 (WS): k12, t+p
R7 (RS): k10, t+p
R8 (WS): k8, t+p
R9 (RS): k6, t+p
R10 (WS): k4, t+p
R11 (RS): k5, t+p
R12 (WS): k6, t+p
R13 (RS): k8, t+p
R14 (WS): k10, t+p
R15 (RS): k12, t+p
R16 (WS): k14, t+p
R17 (RS): k16, t+p
R18 (WS): k18, t+p
R19 (RS): k19 (i.e. to left border marker), and DON'T TURN
Continue from Row 1 and knit the next almond-section.

When you have finished the "almond section" that reaches the end marker or after you have knitted 10 "almonds" switch to CC.

With CC knit one round (stranding MC over the first 10 stitches) - please be careful to knit the double-stitches as one stitch (here the double stitches are the one just before and just after the stitch marker)
Purl one round. Remove the end marker, slip ten stitches, place the end marker.
(If - unlike me - you haven't got a problem with cutting yarn, you can alternatively break MC, knit one round in CC, purl one round in CC, cut CC, remove the end marker, slip ten stitches , place the end marker, and then attach MC to start again.)

The picture below gives a sketch of the rows in relation to the stitch markers in even numbered layers.

Repeat first and second layer until the cowl is wide enough for you. I knitted a total of 5 layers (3x odd-numbered layers and 2x even-numbered layers).

Finish with one knit row in CC and bind off purling in CC.