So this is the Cream & Berries Birthday Cowl. I didn’t use a pattern for this one, made it up when I started it as I was trying to figure out what to do. This was made for my mom and I used Rowan Ribbon Twist (super bulky weight yarn) on 8mm circular knitting needles (80cm length). This is my first finished project on circulars!

What I liked about making this was that it was relatively quick (I started and finished it yesterday). But what I didn’t like about it was that I was actually trying to make it into a moebius (and therefore trying to twist the stitches at the very beginning), but I couldn’t get them to twist. Overall, it was a nice first project done on circulars. Not too difficult to do and I liked doing a 1×1 ribbing all throughout, it shows up quite nicely in the bulky yarn and the ribbon adds a nice accent to everything (especially since the ribbon is variegated throughout).

Modeled by Elijah

Knitting in the round (with both circular knitting needles and double pointed needles [DPNs]) is something that I’ve recently (sort of) mastered. I lamented about my inability to ‘get’ the whole circular knitting thing and a Twitter/Flickr friend (irulethegalaxy) helped me out by explaining the basics to me (and was a lot more patient than my sister ever was when explaining it to me!).

My first attempt at knitting in the round was done with double pointed needles. I found it difficult at the beginning because after spreading out my stitches onto three needles, I was left with 6 different pointed ends constantly poking into my fingers or the palms of my hands. But eventually, I did “get” it and ended up with a short, stubby little tube.

My tension was off, there were little visible ‘ladders’ so I could see exactly where the stitches changed from each needle, but it was okay, because I could knit with DPNs!

For my second attempt at knitting the round, I grabbed a pair of circular knitting needles (8mm) for this lovely ball of super bulky weight yarn. The one thing I love about chunky knits is that it works up relatively quickly because everything’s a lot bigger in width, height and overall thickness.

It’s a lot different with crocheting in joined rounds (joined rounds, unless you’ve got the world’s best tension, results in having a noticeable ‘seam’ where you joined the rounds) but it’s quite similar to crochet in the round (no seam, spirals up), which I’m most familiar with. I’m a lot more comfortable with freestyling my own designs in crochet, so unless there’s no shaping involved, chances are that I’ll be reaching for a crochet hook instead of knitting needles for making amigurumis, but I do love the fact that I know how to knit in the round for both DPNs and circulars!

Difficulty Level: Beginner

Materials:
Bulky yarn (~150g)
6.50mm hook (US K 10.5)
Yarn needle

Notes:
I used Red Heart Cozy Wool (70% acrylic, 30% wool) in Windsor Blue.
Any bulky-weight (5) yarn should work fine. To keep the stitch definition showing, I recommend not using a novelty or chenille yarn for this cowl and I do recommend using a wool blend.

Abbreviations:
Ch – chain
Tr – triple crochet

Notes:
Ch 3 at beginning of each row counts as 1 tr.
Number of stitches listed at end of row in the parentheses.

Directions:
1. Ch 25.
2. Tr in 4th ch from hook and in each ch across (22).
3. Ch 3, front post tr for each st across (22).
4. Ch 3, back post tr for each st across (22).
5. Repeat 3-4 until the length is the circumference of your head.
6. Hold ribbed sides together, slip stitch the two short ends together.
7. Fasten off, tuck in ends.

Click to download a PDF copy of the Crochet Ribbed Cowl – it’s printer friendly as it is text only.

This pattern is an original pattern by Michelle W. (December 2009). Please do not claim this pattern as your own. If you wish to share this pattern, you may link to this pattern but do not sell or distribute it on your site. Items made from this pattern may be sold with credit to Michelle and chelle-chelle.com.