Stained Glass Cowl

Variegated yarns are so gorgeous, but they can be hard to use in stranded colorwork. Often what looks lovely in the skein ends up rather muddy when knit with a second color in a stranded pattern.

With this cowl, I wanted to celebrate the joy of a vibrant variegated skein by contrasting it against a deep black. The fine lines of black remind me of the intricate tracings in many stained-glass windows.

The cowl’s seemingly intricate stitch pattern is a 16-stitch repeat with no more than 5 stitches of a single color at a time, so there is no need to catch floats. Pick your favorite variegated yarn, find a really strong contrast color with absolutely no overlap with any of the colors in your variegated skein, and cast on with confidence!

Yarn

Miss Babs Yummy 2-Ply

100% Superwash Merino Wool; 400 yd/3.9 oz (365 m/110 g) per skein, 2 skeins, shown in Blackbird (MC) and Sunrise Swim (CC)

Or approximately 330 yards/302 meters of MC and 285 yards/261 meters of CC in fingering weight yarn.

Finished Measurements

Circumference: 43”/107.5 cm

Height: 8 1/4”/20.5 cm

Needles

US 2 2.75 mm circular needle, 24”/60 cm long, or size to obtain gauge

Gauge

Blocked: 33 stitches and 38 rounds = 4”/10 cm square in stranded colorwork.

This pattern has been professionally tech edited and test knit.