Branches Cowl

by Jamie Hoffman @knitosophy

About Branches Cowl

The Branches Cowl celebrates the simple beauty of trees, with limbs outstretched encouraging us to gaze upwards to the sky. Branches is a fantastic stranded knitting project for both seasoned and aspiring knitters, and is the perfect introduction for those new to the technique. You'll love watching it take shape.

The yarn chosen for this cowl is every bit as special as the design itself. Plied Yarns was built in much the same way as Knitrino: a pair of founders (Karida of Neighborhood Fiber Co and Ann of Weaverknits) working to create a product and iterating, step by step. Plied Yarns creates outstanding yarn that is carefully crafted to be unlike anything you've seen. This pattern creates a fade with 6 bobbins of Plied Yarns' 100% non-super wash wool in different colors, plus 1 skein of Neighborhood Fiber Co's organic Merino. The duo has put together special yarn bundles for this pattern. (Note that the pattern must be purchased separately.)

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What’s Knitrino?

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Construction Notes

The cowl begins with a Crochet Provisional Cast On directly on the needle. It is then knit entirely in the round using stranded knitting to form a tube, and the floats are completely hidden on the inside. After blocking flat, the ends are grafted together using Kitchener Stitch. If you're knitting from your stash, you can easily substitute one color for the fade that's created with the bobbins. Check other’s projects on Instagram to get ideas!

Supplies

Yarn: Fingering weight yarn in 1 background color and 6 motif colors to create a fade.

  • Color A: Neighborhood Fiber Co Organic Rustic Fingering, ~400 yards/360 m

  • Colors B-G: Plied Yarns 2-ply Woolen Spun Fingering in 6 colors, ~30-35 yards of each/27-32 m

Needles :

  • US 4 (3.5 mm) circular needles, 12-16”/30-40 cm in length

  • Crochet hook for cast on

Bits & Bobs :

6 stitch markers (1 unique), 2 removable markers, crochet hook for cast on (US G-H /4.50-5.00 mm recommended), tapestry needle

Gauge :

30 stitches and 32 rounds = 4 x 4"/10 x 10 cm in stranded colorwork, blocked.


Note that gauge is not critical in this project, provided you have plenty of yarn.