DESIGN INSPIRATION

Two of my favorite things in knitted fabrics are cables and artfully speckled hand-dyed yarn. Unfortunately, the two don’t always play nicely together. Sometimes when we are working with highly speckled yarn, either the speckles or the pattern can be lost because your eye doesn’t know what to focus on. As a formally-trained chemist, one activity I enjoy is solving problems, so when presented with the challenge of mixing speckles and cables, I was excited to figure out how to make it work. One solution (chemistry pun) for this is to dilute the speckles with a neutral, heavier weight yarn. With the Dilution Cowl, the speckles are spread out just enough so that the pattern and speckles work together to highlight each other instead of drowning one another out.

In chemistry, spreading out particles of solute by adding more solvent is called a dilution. By analogy, you can think of diluting your sweet tea by adding more water or unsweetened tea; this spreads out the sugar molecules so that fewer hit your taste buds with each sip, and the tea will taste less sweet. By pairing the speckled yarn with a heavier weight neutral, the stitches are larger and thicker than they would be if we just used a large needle with fingering weight yarn.

The faux rib/garter texture of the Dilution Cowl creates a squishy, cozy fabric. The edges of the cowl feature beautiful braided cables that entwine at the focal point of the cowl – that part took some really focused problem solving, but don’t worry; I’ve figured it out for you! With plenty of rest rows and pattern interest, this cowl will fly off the needles. The cowl has a shawl-like construction that makes wearing and styling it easy.

CONSTRUCTION

The Dilution Cowl begins by casting on at the back of the neck and then increasing only at one edge to create an asymmetric shape. A cable panel is worked as an applied edging along the body of the faux rib until the cables meet at the bottom corner. The cowl is knit flat and then seamed at the back of the neck.

PATTERN INFORMATION

Difficulty Rating
INTERMEDIATE: Project is worked flat and includes cables, increases, and decreases. It is seamed at the end of the work.

Recommended Yarn
Merino DK by Hedgehog Fibres, 100% superwash merino wool, 219 yds (200 m) per 4 oz (115 g): 2 skeins (shown in Crystal) OR approximately 438 yds (400 m) DK weight yarn.

Sock by Hedgehog Fibres, 90% superwash merino wool/10% nylon, 437 yds (400 m) per 4 oz (115 g): 1 skein (shown in Zephyr) OR approximately 437 yds (400 m) fingering weight yarn.

To get a similar effect to the sample, choose a speckled fingering weight wool/wool blend yarn with a neutral base color and a DK weight wool/wool blend yarn in a solid or tonal color similar to the neutral of the speckled yarn. Alternatively, you can use a solid or tonal yarn in a worsted weight wool to make a similar fabric without the speckles.

Needles/Notions

• US #8 (5.0 mm) 24-32” (60-80 cm) circular, or straight needles; OR size needed to obtain gauge OR size needed to obtain a fabric you like
• Tapestry needle for binding off, seaming, and weaving in ends
• 3-4 stitch markers or progress keepers
• Cable needle

Gauge
17 sts and 29 rows to 4” (10 cm) in 2x3 faux rib on US #8 (5 mm) needles.

Pattern gauge was measured after washing and blocking. While gauge is not crucial for this project, a different gauge will affect how much yarn is required as well as overall size.

Finished Measurements
Depth at back of neck: 6.5” (16.5 cm)
Circumference at neck after seaming: 28.5” (72 cm)
Depth at longest point on front: 20.5” (52 cm)

This pattern has been tech edited and test knit.