Update: My Tinkertown Cowl was a prize winner in the Albuquerque Fiber Arts Fiesta Exhibition, May 2017!

Do you have a skein of fabulously wild and super bulky art yarn that you love, love, love … but don’t know what on earth to make with it?

That’s exactly why I designed this fast-to-knit and easy-to-wear “kerchief cowl”.

The Tinkertown Cowl is knitted seamlessly in the round, worked from the top down, and finished with a cheerful picot bind-off across the front. The pattern is completely written out, no charts needed.

Start with your gorgeous art yarn in a Super Bulky weight. Find a smaller, quieter complementary yarn in heavy worsted / Aran weight. Put the two together, et voila! Folk art to wear.

I’m showing two knitted samples with this pattern to get your creative ideas flowing.

The first Tinkertown cowl, shown on the pattern cover, was knitted with handspun art yarns scored on Etsy: super bulky Paranormal Trash from Barbara Paige, and Aran weight Nutmeg & Honey from Strings and Things.

For my second Tinkertown cowl, I used commercial yarns which are readily available if you don’t happen to have wild super bulky handspun in stash. This second cowl was knitted with Noro Kureyon Air, a super bulky single-ply roving type yarn, and Tahki Yarns Ambrosia Slim, an Aran weight yarn.

I’ve included a number of suggestions for customizing your cowl with yarn substitutions, working a larger size (super easy, just keep going!), open vs. closed increases, and different ways of edging - picot or plain, fringed or not.

Tools & Materials

Yarn 1: Super Bulky art yarn (approximately 60 yds / 55 m)
Yarn 2: Heavy Worsted / Aran yarn (approximately 65 yds / 60 m)

US 13 / 9mm Needles on 24” Circular Cable
3 Stitch Markers (1 BOR, 2 Center Front)

Finished Dimensions after Blocking

Top Circumference: 20 inches
Bottom Circumference: 34 inches
Back Depth: 6 to 8 inches
Front Depth 11 to 14 inches

Skill Level: Easy

Knits & purls & yarnovers; knitting in the round; picot bindoff (fully explained).

I named this the Tinkertown Cowl after our neighborhood shrine to folk / outsider art, the whimsical and wonderful Tinkertown Museum. Read more about Tinkertown at http://tinkertown.com, or better still, visit it! You’ll find it nestled in the beautiful Sandia Mountains of New Mexico, 20 minutes east and 2,000 feet up from Albuquerque, open from March-October.