Skill Level Advanced Beginner Yarn Manos del Uruguay Manos Silk Blend 30% silk, 7o% Merino Extrafine Wool Color: 3117 2 skeins Approx 150 yards/50 g skein Needle US 6/4mm Notions Crochet hook, size G or H Scrap yarn Tapestry needle
Gauge
Not critical, but knit a swatch in pattern to see if you like the way it looks. I worked with a larger needle than I usually would for the yarn because I wanted the stitches on the loose side.
Finished Size
Width: 4 1/2" Height: 35" loop (7o"total length)
Siren Song Cowl
It's happened again: You've accidentally acquired a couple of skeins of incredibly beautiful, handpainted, luxury yarn. You may have succumbed to an impluse at your LYS. Your well-meaning partner may have purchased them as a gift. However you came by the yarn, you look at it now, thinking: what am I going to make with 300 yards of this stuff? You may pet it and sigh with bliss at its softness...imagining the blobby mess it would make when knit up into a sweater. Which you don't
have enough yarn to make anyhow. You only have a skein or two. I give you: The Siren Song Cowl. It's a big, long, loop of tv-knitting easypeasy lace with a tubular edge. Graft the ends together and you've got a throw-it-on-and-look-hot fashion statement, designed to take advantage of the variegated colors in handpainted, luxury yarn. That yarn that sang its siren song that you could not resist.
PATTERN
Using the provisional cast on of your choice, cast on 32 stitches. (RS) Row 1: k1, yf, slip 1, yb, k2, \*yo, sl1 purlwise, k2, psso the k2\* to last 4 sts, k2, yf, slip 1, yb, k1 (WS) Row 2: slip 1 wyif, p1, slip 1 wyif, purl across to last 3 sts, slip 1 wyif p1, slip 1 wyif Carry on with rows 1 and 2 until almost all of your yarn is used up. The final row you knit should be a Row 1. You should have a yarn strand at least three times the width of your fabric remaining to use for the graft. Slip the stitches from the provisional cast on onto a needle. Graft ends together using the kitchener stitch. Don't be afraid of those yarn overs, just graft on through them like they're regular old loops.
The item, folded
ABBREVIATIONS
yf: Yarn Forward yb: Yarn Back yo:Yarn Over psso: Pass Slipped Stitch Over
CROCHETEDPROVISIONALCASTON
This is my go-to provisional cast on. Get some scrap yarn. It should be fairly thick and slippery. I have a skein of cotton that I bought at Michael's when I was a beginning knitter—-great for provisional cast ons. Make a loose crochet chain about 5 stitches longer than you intend to cast on. Cut the yarn, pull the end through the last loop and tie a knot in it. The knot identifies where to start when you go back to unpick the chain to release your stitches for their graft. Turn the chain over to its wrong side. Notice that there are bumps that look rather like the back side of a knit stitch. Pick up a stitch through each one of the bumps until you have the correct number of loops on your needle. Turn the work and commence knitting.
The graft
NOTES
The graft point is noticeable because it's the only row of knitted stitches that don't have a loop passing over them. As I grafted, I thought to myself: I could either figure out how to do a PSSO while grafting, or I could stick this part under my hair in the back. I opted for the latter approach. Should you figure out how to graft and do a PssO, please email meandletmeinonthesecret! A mistake I made a few times: I would forget to do the PssO and would find the error on the way back. It's easy to fix: simply tink the last two purled stitches. Turn the work. Do the PSSO. Turn work. Carry on. If you'd like your cowl wider or narrower than the one I knit, the math works like this: Allow 6 sts for the tubular edge Pick a multiple of 3 + 2 sts for the lace.
FINISHING
Weave in ends. Block. I used blocking wires threaded through the tubular edges and pulled hard to open up the lace work.
