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The Kitchen Cast-Off Cowl
Do you have precious leftover yarns that deserve a project that lets them shine? Madeline’s dye samples inspired this great cowl pattern—a bonus for current Spin Off subscribers!
Sampling is for more than just spinning projects, and I’m constantly sampling in my life as a natural dyer. When I am exploring a new dyestuff or trying a new method with a familiar dye plant, I’ll often spin up a skein, split it into minis, and prepare each one to be placed in a different dyebath.
I used this method in my article, “Ode to an Onion Skin,” published in Spin Off Fall 2022 to easily test 10 different onion-skin recipes. Mini skeins created from one larger skein help to create a consistent sample set without needing a large amount of dyestuff. In my set of 10, the minis ended up either mordanted with alum, or not, and then individually modified with adjustment to the pH of the dyebath or afterbath to shift the color.
Madeline’s sample skeins dyed with onion skins and various mordant techniques.
With so many questions and so many dyestuffs to try, I often end up with baskets of small-yardage skeins that accumulate around the house. The way natural dyes tend to “go” together without clashing is something that I truly love, and these minis are a great excuse for playing with color. Putting together palettes of my own colors helps me plan larger projects, and there’s there’s no rule that color studies have to be swatches. Whether dye experiments, or scraps left over at the end of larger projects, I’m a big fan of smaller knits that focus on color.
This simple cowl knitted in linen stitch gives a lovely, flat fabric; interesting texture; and plenty of opportunity to play with color as you work. I made one version of the cowl with the 10 skeins I dyed with onion skins; however this pattern is easily modified to use what you have. I find that two-color linen stitch works best with colors that contrast, though if you’d like your cowl to have a more uniform look overall you can choose to use one continuous main color and only switch the smaller skeins as you go.
Kitchen Cast-Offs Cowl Knitting Pattern
Fiber about 3 oz.
Yarn 2-ply; 2–3 colors (see Notes), about 110 yd total; 640ypp; 7–8 wpi; worsted weight.
Needles US size 7 (4.5 mm), 16" circular. Adjust needle size if necessary to obtain the correct gauge.
Notions Marker (m).
Gauge 17 sts and 24 rnds = 4" in linen st.
Finished Size Single loop, 24½" x 7". Double loop instructions are included in parenthesis.
Note: to make a double loop cowl, cast on twice as many sts.
Visit spinoffmagazine.com/spin-off-abbreviations for terms you don’t know.
Sampling is for more than just spinning projects, and I’m constantly sampling in my life as a natural dyer. When I am exploring a new dyestuff or trying a new method with a familiar dye plant, I’ll often spin up a skein, split it into minis, and prepare each one to be placed in a different dyebath.
I used this method in my article, “Ode to an Onion Skin,” published in Spin Off Fall 2022 to easily test 10 different onion-skin recipes. Mini skeins created from one larger skein help to create a consistent sample set without needing a large amount of dyestuff. In my set of 10, the minis ended up either mordanted with alum, or not, and then individually modified with adjustment to the pH of the dyebath or afterbath to shift the color.
Madeline’s sample skeins dyed with onion skins and various mordant techniques.
With so many questions and so many dyestuffs to try, I often end up with baskets of small-yardage skeins that accumulate around the house. The way natural dyes tend to “go” together without clashing is something that I truly love, and these minis are a great excuse for playing with color. Putting together palettes of my own colors helps me plan larger projects, and there’s there’s no rule that color studies have to be swatches. Whether dye experiments, or scraps left over at the end of larger projects, I’m a big fan of smaller knits that focus on color.
This simple cowl knitted in linen stitch gives a lovely, flat fabric; interesting texture; and plenty of opportunity to play with color as you work. I made one version of the cowl with the 10 skeins I dyed with onion skins; however this pattern is easily modified to use what you have. I find that two-color linen stitch works best with colors that contrast, though if you’d like your cowl to have a more uniform look overall you can choose to use one continuous main color and only switch the smaller skeins as you go.
Kitchen Cast-Offs Cowl Knitting Pattern
Fiber about 3 oz.
Yarn 2-ply; 2–3 colors (see Notes), about 110 yd total; 640ypp; 7–8 wpi; worsted weight.
Needles US size 7 (4.5 mm), 16" circular. Adjust needle size if necessary to obtain the correct gauge.
Notions Marker (m).
Gauge 17 sts and 24 rnds = 4" in linen st.
Finished Size Single loop, 24½" x 7". Double loop instructions are included in parenthesis.
Note: to make a double loop cowl, cast on twice as many sts.
Visit spinoffmagazine.com/spin-off-abbreviations for terms you don’t know.
[PAYWALL]
Notes on Color Changes
The color shifts in this cowl happen kind of intuitively, always using two colors as you work. Switch the yarn you’re using every two rounds for the two-color effect, and if you’d like there to be sections where a color is solid, repeat the linen stitch twice (four rounds total) or more.
For my cowl, I worked in alternating colors until I was just about halfway done with one of my sample skeins, did four rounds of linen stitch in one color for a more solid section, and then I continued until one color ran out. At this point I worked four rounds in the remaining color to create another solid section before adding in the third color and so on.
I recommend using a minimum of three colors for this pattern, but you can use as many as you’d like! This project is a great stash buster, and a good way to use some of those precious sample skeins from spinning classes as well.
Stitch Guide
Linen stitch pattern
Rnd 1 K1, *sl1 wyif, k1, rep from * to end of rnd.
Rnd 2 Sl 1 wyif, *k1, sl1 wyif, rep from * to end of rnd.
Cowl
With MC, CO 100 (200) sts in your preferred method; my favorite for neat edges in ribbing is the German Twisted Cast on, which is a long tail method. Pm and join in the rnd.
Rnds 1–4 *K2, P2 rep from * to end of rnd.
Switch to CC, keeping MC attached to your knitting. M1 so that you now have an odd number of stitches.
Work linen stitch patt, switching colors as you go (see Notes) until about 1" less than the desired finished size.
Switch to the desired color for your edge and work as follows:
Rnd 1 K2tog, k1, *p2, k2, rep from * to end of rnd.
Rnds 2–4 *K2, p2, rep from * to end of rnd.
BO all sts. Weave in ends. Block if desired and enjoy your simple yet satisfying color creation!
Onion dyed or not, the color combinations are endless!
Madeline Keller-King is a fiber artist and natural dyer who lives in the woods of northwestern Montana in the company of her spouse and family of pups. You can follow her adventures on social media where she goes by @woolywitchofthewest.
