You may think of stockinette as so basic it’s boring, but think again! Stockinette has many surprises up its sleeve, including the beauty of its “wrong” side. Sometimes ignored for its sleeker knit stitch counterpart, the purl side has the advantage of texture: nubbly and rustic, tactile and fascinating!

Newsprint Cowl | Purl Soho

For our Newsprint Cowl, we pushed this texture even further by adding stripes, so those purl bumps turn into blips of color like printed words across a page. And when the knit side folds over, as it’s bound to do, the contrast is far from boring!

Yarn lovers, if you adore the yarn used in this project, you’ll love exploring all of our other yarn collections! Discover over 45 thoughtfully designed yarns in nearly every natural fiber and in every spectacular color you can imagine. Only available here at Purl Soho’s online yarn store, where every skein is created with care and your creativity in mind!

Newsprint Cowl | Purl Soho

To achieve the subtle effect of printed words, we used our light and lovely Line Weight. It’s also as soft as can be and just the right weight for fall, winter, and spring! -Michele Wang

P.S. Michele Wang is an amazing knit designer and good friend to Purl Soho. Be sure to check out her new book of patterns, Capsule Winter 2017, and thank you, Michele, for contributing this original design here! -The Purl Soho team

Newsprint Cowl | Purl Soho

UPDATE: NOW IN LINE WEIGHT + QUARTZ

OCTOBER 2022 

Newsprint Cowl | Purl Soho

We updated our Newsprint Cowl, alternating between two of our favorite fingering weight yarns: Line Weight, a single-ply 100% merino as light as air and cloud-soft, and Quartz, a sumptuous mix of 65% merino wool and 35% suri alpaca, which adds a bit of texture and a lovely halo to the fabric. Choose the Newsprint Cowl Bundle that jumps off the page for you!

Designed for Purl Soho by Michele Wang.

Share your progress and connect with the community by tagging your pics with #PurlSoho, #PurlSohoBusyHands, #PurlSohoNewsprintCowl, and #PurlSohoLineWeight. We can’t wait to see what you make!

Materials

Newsprint Cowl | Purl Soho
  • Main Color (MC): 1 skein of Purl Soho’s Line Weight, 100% merino wool yarn. Each skein of this fingering weight yarn is 494 yards/ 100 grams; approximately 494 yards required. We used Wheat Flour.
  • Contrast Color (CC): 1 skein of Line Weight. Each skein is 494 yards/ 100 grams; approximately 240 yards required. We used Soft Black.
  • US 4 (3.5 mm), 32-inch circular needles

We love Wheat Flour and Soft Black for their classic “newsprint” look, but here are some other equally pretty color ideas…

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Main Color: Heirloom White (left) + Contrast Color: Kiln Red (right)

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Main Color: Honey Pink (left) + Contrast Color: Super Pink (right)

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Main Color: Dove Gray (left) + Contrast Color: Trout Brown (right)

Gauge

24 stitches and 35 rounds = 4 inches in stockinette stitch

Size

Finished dimensions: 12 inches high and 58 inches in circumference

Notes

The purl side of this Cowl is considered the right side, but you will make the Cowl with the wrong side facing you. This is so that most of your stitches will be easier knits rather than more difficult purls.

Because the wrong side is facing you, when you carry up the yarns for striping, be sure to twist them on the side facing you, aka the knit stitch side of the Main Body.

For more tips on carrying up yarn, please visit our Stripes in the Round Tutorial, but keep in mind that this tutorial carries the yarn up the backside of the work. The concept is the same, but again, here, you’ll carry the yarn up the front of the work!

Pattern

Begin + Work Trim

With Main Color (MC), use a Long Tail Cast On to cast on 348 stitches.

Place a marker and join for working in the round, being careful to not twist the stitches.

Rounds 1-4: With MC, purl to end of round.

Work Main Body

Round 1: With CC, knit to end of round.

Rounds 2 and 3: With MC, knit to end of round. (See Notes, above, for tips on where and how to carry up the yarn for striping.)

Repeat Rounds 1-3 until piece measures about 11 ½ inches from cast-on edge.

Cut CC yarn.

Next Round: With MC, knit to end of round.

Work Trim

Rounds 1-4: With MC, purl to end of round.

Bind off all stitches purlwise.

Weave in the ends and gently block your Newsprint Cowl!

Newsprint Cowl | Purl Soho

LEARN ABOUT LINE WEIGHT + ALL OUR BEAUTIFUL YARNS

Line Weight is a lovely choice for this project because it is sumptuously soft with a subtle luster. A lithe single ply of 100% merino wool, this fingering-weight yarn knits up into a smooth fabric that blooms beautifully when you hand wash it. Enjoy 494 yards of beautiful knitting with every 100-gram skein and choose from over 20 riveting colors!

More Free Knitting Patterns

More Fingering-Weight Yarns

More Yarns With Similar Fibers

Looking for more inspiration? Explore all of our free knitting patterns and knitting tutorials, buy one of our many knitting kits and yarn bundles, and shop for beautiful yarn. We have over 35 gorgeous natural fiber yarns in 100’s of magnificent colors, designed to bring integrity, beauty, and joy to your next knitting project and only available at Purl Soho!