Taking inspiration from the double helix staircase at St Editha’s Church in Tamworth, UK whose construction was overseen by Dean Baldwin de Witney following a fire in 1345, this simple garter stitch cowl is worked helically. The spirals of knit and purl stitches ensure that there is no garter stitch “seam” as you would expect when working garter stitch in the round.

Size
Circumference: 52.5cm [20¾in]
Depth: 27cm [10½in]

Yarn
Something to Knit With Aran (70% highland wool, 30% superfine alpaca; 82m [89yds] per 50g skein)
Strawberry 3 x 50g skeins

Needles and Notions
1 set 4.5mm [US 7] circular needles, 40cm [16in] long, or needle size required to match tension
1 5mm [US 8] knitting needle, or one size larger than the size needed to match tension
Stitch markers
Waste yarn (smooth cotton is ideal)

Tension
19 sts and 38 rounds to 10cm [4in] over garter stitch worked helically (this may vary from your flat garter stitch tension, since it requires both knit and purl stitches)

Pattern Notes
The cowl starts with a waste yarn cast on, before being joined into the round. Helical garter stitch is then worked to the desired length before the cowl is cast off with the i-cord cast-off method. Stitches are then picked up at the waste yarn cast-on edge, before carefully removing the waste yarn. A matching i-cord cast off is then worked to complete the cowl.

Special Techniques
Photo tutorials for the following techniques can be found within this ebook.
Helical garter stitch

Video Tutorials
The following video tutorials may be found shortly on our website at www.acknitwear.co.uk/something-new-to-learn-about-helical-knitting
Helical garter stitch
Waste yarn cast-on method
i-Cord cast-off method