This winter, wrap yourself in the warmth of a rare book! This cowl is inspired by medieval illuminated manuscripts. The charts draw from pen-flourished initials in holdings of McGill Library’s Rare Books and Special Collections, especially a group of excised initials and a fifteenth-century Italian antiphonal (MS Medieval 073). This manuscript is truly a work of art, and has been entirely digitized. You may view the manuscript here. To learn more about this manuscript and the process of designing this pattern, watch the virtual talk with designer Dr. Kristen C. Howard, hosted by McGill University Libraries in February 2021, here (1 hour).

The McGill Libraries also have a video on the digitization of the manuscript (10 mins) and a choral performance of the manuscript’s music, led by Dr. Julie Cumming (55 mins). Both videos can be found here.

The designer, Kristen Howard, and colleague Jacquelyn Sundberg published a paper on the series of knitting events hosted by McGill Libraries from 2021-2023 in RBM: A Journal of Rare Books, Manuscripts, & Cultural Heritage in Spring 2024. The article is available open access for all to read here: “Crafting Connections: Bridging Collections & Communities with Knitting.”

In lieu of payment for this free pattern, consider making a gift to McGill Library’s Rare Books and Special Collections.

All Roman alphabet letters are available as unique initial charts!

Feel free to repurpose these charts for other stranded or intarsia projects. (Hats! Scarves! Sweaters! The options are endless!)

Pattern Details

Finished Measurements:
21” / 63cm circumference, 11” / 28cm height (easily adjustable)

Yarn:
Two contrasting colors of fingering weight yarn; approx. 50g (231 yards) each
Optional: a third color to add contrast ribbing (approx. 25g); a yellow or gold to add duplicate stitch illumination (approx. 3-5g)

Suggested Yarn:
Knit Picks Palette, 100% wool (50g/231 yards)

B Sample shown in
Main Color: Cream
Contrast Color: Black

In addition to Palette, test knitters also used Cascade Heritage Fingering, Four Seasons Gründl Hot Socks 4-fach, Emily C Gillies BFL fingering, and even a laceweight held double.

Suggested Needles:
Main: US 4 / 3.5 mm, 16” circular
Ribbing: US 2 / 2.75 mm, 16” circular

Notions:
9 stitch markers, tapestry needle, and scissors; a row counter is highly recommended

Gauge:
26 sts & 30 rows = 4” / 10cm in stranded colorwork on larger needles
Gauge is not critical for this cowl, but a different gauge will affect size and yarn use.

Skills needed:
Knitting in the round and stranded colorwork (including catching long floats).

For a wonderful demonstration of how to catch floats while knitting two-handed stranded knitting (my preferred method), please refer to this video.

Pattern includes customization options for altering the size of your cowl, adding a third contrast color for the ribbing, and using duplicate stitch to add extra illumination mimicking illuminated manuscripts’ use of gold leaf (see H sample for all three options).

If you plan to print your pattern, please pay attention and only print the initial chart you want to use and not all 26 charts!

This pattern has been test knit, though only the following initials have been tested:
A
B
H (chart improved after testing)
K
M
P