Abacus Cowl is a nice quick project that can help you use up some of the leftover yarns in your stash. The bobbles have an unusual construction, but it’s not difficult to learn. An adventurous beginner can knit this cowl.

There are a lot of ways to do bobbles. I was struggling with getting them just right on another design when I decided to look up some tutorials on YouTube. Maybe I was just not using the right bobble method for what I wanted. In the process I found a tutorial that used 2 rows to create the bobble and the knitter in the video used two different colors of yarn to help make the stitches obvious. The result was a bobble centered on a two-row stripe like a bead on an abacus. What was intended to be instructional inspired whimsy and I dug into my stash to use up some partial balls leftover from other projects. The yarns are not the same fiber content or even the same weight. The silk in the Gloss DK yarn makes the stripes and bobbles shine against the deep squishy warmth of City Tweed’s alpaca. This snug cowl can be counted on for cozy, casual wear. Yes, I just proudly made that terrible joke.

Needles: US size 8 (5.0 mm), 24” (60 cm) circular needle or size needed to obtain gauge

Yarn:
Main Color: Knit Picks City Tweed (Aran weight; 55% Merino, 25% Superfine alpaca, 20% Donegal tweed; 164 yd/150 m, 3.53 oz/100 g). 1 ball in Brocade.

Contrasting Color: Knit Picks Gloss DK (DK weight; 70% Merino, 30% Silk; 123 yd/112 m, 1.76 oz/50 g). 1 ball in Velveteen.

Yardage:
50 yd (46 m) City Tweed
75 yd (69 m) Gloss DK

Note - yardage required may be different if you are stash busting with different yarns.

Gauge: 4” (10 cm) =
15 sts/26 rows in Bobble stitch pattern

Measurements: Approximately 24” (61 cm) circumference and 6.5” (16.5 cm) tall

The pattern has been tech edited and tested.