In 2022, my husband Dan produced a seven part documentary series called ‘Walking The Wall’. This was a history series, all about Hadrian’s Wall.

In each of the episodes Dan would walk a section of the wall, telling the story of the building of the wall and of the lives of the people that lived and worked there.

This inspired me to design something that would bring to mind the journey he went on. Dan loves to knit colourwork projects, so I set about designing, using one of his favourite yarns.

The Hadrian’s Cowl features motifs inspired by Dan’s walk - now immortalised in yarn!

Cowl Details

The cowl is knitted in the round, using stranded colourwork. It features 3 different motifs, each inspired by Hadrian’s Wall. We have the Roman Temple motif, The Wall and the beautiful centre section which represents a Roman Floor. Each motif is separated by a band of stocking stitch, to best show off these lovely designs.

Size

The cowl is 21 inches ((53 cm) long and 12 inches (30 cm) wide. The circumference is 24 inches (61 cm). This size is based on the gauge stated in the pattern, using 3.5 mm needles.

Dan knitted the pattern sample (beautifully in my opinion), and his gauge measured the same throughout the cowl.

Yarn

The pattern sample was knitted using 2 x 100g skeins of Regia Merino Yak 4ply/fingering yarn. The two shades used were 07516 (Grass Green) and 07514 (Teal Meliert).

Exact amounts used was 85g of Grass Green, and 61g of Teal Meliert.

I would recommend you choose yarns that have a high contrast.