The Journey Cowl represents a true journey for me, both literally and figuratively. In producing Cartref Yarn, Jennie and I travel from our homes to a mid-Wales British Wool depot to select the fleeces we need. We drive them to the mill for processing, then return to pick the finished yarn up and bring it home to dye. Until the yarn is sold, it never leaves Wales! This cowl is also the physical embodiment of my personal journey from avid knitter to someone who works in the world of yarn as a producer championing local wool, and an indie dyer selling yarn online and at shows all over the UK.

The colourwork motifs represent the travels of our yarn. I start with a wave pattern as I live by the sea in South Wales. The zigzags are for the hills and mountains we drive up and down on our way to the wool depot, for which I incorporated stylised shepherd’s crooks from the British Wool Marketing Board logo. Next there are chevrons, similar to the black and white road signs used for tight bends in the UK – there are many of these as we drive deep into Ceredigion to get to the mill! Finally there are lozenges for the cogs and rollers of the machinery used in the process of turning our fleece into Cartref Yarn.

Knit in the round using two colours, this is a simple knit and would be a lovely first colourwork project with short pattern repeats. As well as in two solid colours, this would look beautiful knitted up with a gradient main colour, or scraps for the contrast colour.

I would love to see your finished Journey Cowl, so if you post a picture of it on social media, please use #journeycowl

Skills Required
Casting on and off, knitting and purling in the round, increasing and decreasing.
Simple colourwork from a chart.

Yarn & Notions
Main Colour: 100g (approx. 361m / 365 yds) of fingering weight yarn. Sample uses approx. 60g (217m / 237 yds) of Cartref Yarn 4-ply in Fforest.
Contrast Colour: 20g (approx. 80m / 87 yds) of fingering weight yarn. Sample uses approx. 17g (62m / 68 yds) of Cartref 4-ply in Naturiol.
3.0mm (US2.5) 16 inch / 40cm circular needles, OR the size required to meet gauge.
Stitch marker, embroidery needle.

Gauge
7 stitches and 7.5 rounds to 1 inch / 2.5cm in colourwork pattern in the round after blocking.

Size
Approx. 25 inches / 64cm circumference and 11 inches / 28cm long after blocking.