During our time of “stay home, stay safe” I have been exploring smocking stitches. At first I was afraid of them. They looked so cool, but could I do it? I found a great video tutorial on YouTube which is included in the pattern instructions. Now I am going to be making all kinds of knitted items with smocking. Another plus - it didn’t curl!

The cowl is knit back and forth with a 6 row repeat. The first 4 rows are simple garter stitch and then there are two rows of the smocking stitch which is sometimes called “shell stitch, dip stitch, or fan stitch”. When the item is knitted the desired width, bind off and seam with mattress stitch. I also included a video tutorial from YouTube on mattress stitchin the pattern instructions.

I used Red Heart yarn because I had that yarn in my stash and it was firm enough to hold the smocking stitches. There are probably a number of worsted weight yarns that would work. I would suggest using 2 contrasting colors of yarn to achieve the best effect.

Skill level: advanced beginner or intermediate
Skills needed: cast on, bind off, knit, purl, purl 2 together, purl 2 together through the back loop, and shell stitch.