Hooded Cowl

Hooded Cowl

Yarn:

6 oz  Worsted Weight (Victory Ranch Millspun Worsted White 100% Alpaca)

Tools:

7 mm  24" Circular needles

7 mm straight needles (optional)

Yarn Needle

5 markers

Abbreviations:

KF&B = Knit front then Knit back (increase 1 stitch)

In Brackets [   ]  are patterns in row to be repeated

The cowl is knitted in the round, the hood is knitted as you would on straight needles (back and forth)

I use the circular needle to knit back and forth, but you can switch to straight needles if preferable. The hooded cowl is knitted as one piece.

The top of the hood will be sewn together after knitting is complete

Start with the Cowl part:

On circular knitting needles:

Cast on 110 stitches, place marker before starting first row to mark where rows begin

Row 1 Purl whole row

Row 2 Knit whole row

Rows 3 thru 20: Pattern is [ K2, P3 ]  repeat for whole row

Row 21 Knit

Row 22 & 23 Purl

Time to start hood:

Count 38 stitches from both left and right of your beginning marker, then mark between 38th & 39th stitch

(You will cast off between the two markers which will be the beginning/end of hood)

Row 24 1/2 Knit 38 stitches (to first hood marker), then cast off to next hood marker, when you get to marker, remove marker and Knit to the end (there is now an end, you are no longer knitting in the round)

Now you can switch to straight needles or use circular needles to knit back and forth

The hood is done in "stockinette" stitch (Knit even rows, Purl odd rows), but your purl rows will begin and end with Knit stitches (Row 25 started and ended with 3 Knit stitches).  As you knit the hood you will Increase 1 knit stitch on each side of the row, on every OTHER purl row.

On the next row (and only this one row) you will add stitches to enlarge the hood:

Row 25 K3, P4, KB&F, then repeat pattern [ P7, KF&B ] to end and Knit last three stitches (the very last pattern will be short one stitch, so it will be P6, KF&B)

Hood Pattern Begins:

Row 26 Knit whole row

Row 27 (increase row) K 1, KF&B, Knit2 (you now have 4 Knit stitches), Purl to the 3rd to last stitch, then K2, KF&B, K1 (you now have 4 Knit stitches at each end of your purl row)

Row 28 Knit whole row

Row 29 K4, Purl to the last four, then K4 (the knit stitchs will increase as you increase the border)

You will repeat Rows 26 thru 29     (increasing on the "increase row")  10 times or until hood is tall enough.

If you stop at 10 repetitions of pattern, your Knit border with be at 12 Knit stitches on each side.  If you continue past 10 repetitions of the pattern you might want to stop increasing the border.

Cast Off on a Knit row  (which is the top of your hood)

Cut your yarn with a long enough tail to be able to sew the top of the hood with the tail.

Now it's time to sew together the top of your hood.  You will take the hood and fold together on the "right" side of the hood (the sides that will be on the outside).  Using the yarn needle, thread the left over tail onto the yarn needle.  Sew the hood together across the top where you did your final cast off.

With yarn needle, sew in any left over tails to clean up your hat.

Block your hood, then enjoy.