Garter Ridge Cowl
Our Garter Ridge Cowl celebrates the nature of knitting stripes in garter stitch, embracing the quirk that when you change colors, you create a two-color round of interlocking purl bumps. Whether you’re discovering this phenomenon for the first time or you know all about it, this knitting idiosyncrasy never grows old!
If you’re a beginner, garter stitch probably screams knit stitch to you, but when you work garter stitch in the round, you actually have to alternate rounds of knitting with rounds of purling. In this case, you also throw in some breaks in the action with brief sections of stockinette stitch, which, in the round, is just knitting. Kind of a head-scratcher, but there’s no better way to understand it than to just do it!
So, to get your garter stripes buzzing, you knit your cowl in rounds of knits and purls, first in thin stripes, then thick, then thin again. In the end, you get a cowl with stippled stripes humming around the outside and crisp stripes peeking out from the inside. The contrast they provide adds a lovely bit of drama to this simple knit.
Both classic and playful, this two-color knit is the perfect way to launch our six new colors of 100% merino Knitting Yarn, including this North Sea Blue that brings its nautical touch to our pairing.
Knitting Yarn is soft and sturdy, with a springy feel that‘s really fun to have on your needles. It knits into a smooth fabric with a crisp stitch definition… Very important for keeping all those contrast purl bumps tidy!
Find the pair that sings for you in Knitting Yarn’s palette of two dozen colors, and you’ll love knitting this garter beauty!
Designed by Purl Soho designer, Hiromi Glover. Click here to see even more of Hiromi’s work!
Share your progress and connect with the community by tagging your pics with #PurlSoho, #PurlSohoBusyHands, #PurlSohoGarterRidgeCowl, and #PurlSohoKnittingYarn. We can’t wait to see what you make!
Materials
- 2 (4) balls of Purl Soho’s Knitting Yarn, 100% merino wool. Each skein is approximately 219 yards/100 grams.
- Color A: 1 (2) ball(s); approximately 120 (315) yards required. We used the color North Sea.
- Color B: 1 (2) ball(s); approximately 110 (290) yards required. We used the color Heirloom White.
- US 7 (4.5 mm), 16- or 40-inch circular needles, depending on size you are making
- A stitch marker
GAUGE
18 stitches and 37 rounds = 4 inches in stitch pattern
SIZES
Once-Around (Twice-Around)
Finished Dimensions: Approximately 22¼ (58) inches circumference x 10¼ inches tall
Sample: Our cowl is the Twice-Around size.
NOTES
CARRYING UP YARN
For a few tips on knitting these stripes, visit our Stripes in the Round Tutorial! Just note that if you choose to work jogless stripes in this pattern, make sure to work them on knit rows only or they will affect the look of the reverse stockinette stripes.
PATTERN
With Color A, cast on 100 (261) stitches. We used a basic Long Tail Cast On.
Place a stitch marker and join for working in the round, being careful not to twist the stitches.
WORK THIN STRIPES
Rounds 1 and 2: With Color A, knit to end of round.
Round 3: With Color B, purl to end of round.
Rounds 4 and 5: With Color B, knit to end of round.
Round 6: With Color A, purl to end of round.
Repeat Rounds 1–6 four more times.
WORK THICK STRIPES
Rounds 1–3: With Color A, knit to end of round.
Round 4: With Color B, purl to end of round.
Rounds 5–7: With Color B, knit to end of round.
Round 8: With Color A, purl to end of round.
Repeat Rounds 1–8 three more times.
Next Round: With Color A, knit to end of round..
CONTINUE
Work Thin Stripes section one more time.
Cut Color B.
Next Round: With Color A, knit to end of round.
Repeat last round.
Bind off loosely knitwise.
FINISH
Weave in the ends and gently wet block.
I love this! Is the model wearing the single or double wrap?
Hi Cindy,
Thanks for writing in! The model is wearing the Twice-Around version of the cowl!
All the best,
Lili
Thanks so much! Since the navy blue shade is out of stock, I was thinking of com but he Purple Plum with one of the grey shades. Which do you think would be the best?
Hi Cindy,
I think that Ivory Gray would be lovely with Purple Prune! It’s a light, warm gray shade, so it will complement the dark, warm purple very nicely.
All the best,
Lili
Do you work the jobless stripe at the end of the knit row?
Hi Nancy,
Thanks for reaching out! The jogless stripe technique is something you only do at the beginning of a row, so you do not have to worry about the end of each row. If another knit row follows this row, then you will work the jogless stripe technique at the beginning of that row as well. And if a purl row follows it, then you should not work the technique there. Hope this helps clarify things!
All the best,
Lili
So you have to follow the jobless technique in the row after you e already done the technique (so in all knit rows, not just the first knit row of each color change)?
Hi Ellen,
You only need to work the jogless stripe technique at the beginning of a stripe, if that first row is a knit row. Apologies for any confusion from my previous reply!
All the best,
Lili
I think this pattern is beautiful and simple! If I wanted to make this as a scarf vs a cowl would the pattern be the same?
Thank you.
Hi CK,
Thanks for reaching out! You can definitely make a scarf using this pattern, but the pattern would actually be very different. To knit it flat, you’ll need to reverse the stitch you’re using on every other row. You can work the even rows as written, but for the odd rows you’ll need to purl instead of knit and knit instead of purl. Hope this helps!
All the best,
Lili
This is so pretty! I love this color combination, but wondering if you have other ideas of colors that would look good together for this cowl? I always struggle with color combinations, particularly online! Thank you!
Hi Debra,
Thanks for reaching out! Here are some color combos that I really like in Knitting Yarn:
Distant River + Sandpiper Brown
Sweet Melon + Pine Needle
Acorn Brown + Heirloom White
Hope this helps give you some ideas!
All the best,
Lili
Do I need to use jogless stripes, or can I jog them?
Hi Robin,
Thanks for reaching out! The jobless stripes technique is completely optional, so you don’t have to use it!
All the best,
Lili
I have a couple of questions:
1. Would I work the jogless stripe on round 4, for example, following the purl row?
2. Bringing up the yarn. Color changes happen on the purl rounds, so would I bring up the yarn on the following knit round when the yarn is in back? I want this to look neat, and I was a bit confused about what to do.
Thanks so much. I love this pattern.
Barbara
Hi Barbara,
Thanks for writing in, and I’m happy to answer your questions!
1. The jogless stripe technique is something we consider to occur at the beginning of a round, so as long as the following round is a knit round, then yes, you can use it there!
2. You should still be able to carry up the yarn pretty much in the same way. But after you twist the two yarns in the back, just bring the new color to the front of your work so you can begin purling!
Hope this helps!
All the best,
Lili
Hi – is there a way of weaving in and taking the changing yarn with you or should I cut it each time and weave in a lot of ends later? Thanks in advance.
Hi Kerry,
Great question! We recommend carrying the yarn up as you knit so you don’t have to cut it at all. You can learn more about this in the NOTES section of this pattern!
All the best,
Lili
I have a question about the final step before binding off. After cutting color B, the directions state to knit, with color A, to the end of the round. Then the directions state to ‘repeat last round.’ Does this mean to just knit one more round? Thanks.
Hi Ellen,
Yes! You just need to knit one more round with Color A before binding off.
All the best,
Lili
Thank you!
Is the cowl wrapped around the woman’s neck twice? From the photos it looks like it’s only wrapped around once so it seems like it’s the Once-Around version and not the Twice-Around version.
Hi Veronica,
It may be a bit hard to see in the photos, but our sample is actually the Twice-Around version!
All the best,
Lili
The directions say to cast on 100 (261) stitches. I have no clue if I should cast on 100 or 261. Help! April
Hi April,
Your cast-on number will depend on which size of the cowl you’re planning to knit! We designed this cowl in two different sizes, Once-Around and Twice-Around. If you’re making the Once-Around version, then you’ll cast on 100, and if you’re making the Twice-Around version, then you’ll cast on 261. Hope this helps!
All the best,
Lili
I am considering making this as a scarf and have noted the instructions already provided for doing so. However instead of casting on 261 stitches what do you suggest? In other words I would work the scarf lengthwise so need guidance as to cast on for width of a scarf. Thank you.
Hi Melinda,
This project would be super fabulous as a scarf! I recommend first knitting a gauge swatch to double check that you’re getting gauge. If you are, then you’ll just need to multiply the gauge of the pattern (4.5 stitches per inch) by the length you’d like your scarf to be! In general, scarves are around 70 inches in length, so if you would like your project to be that long, you would just need to cast on 315 stitches. If you’d like it to be shorter, you can cast on fewer stitches. Then, just knit the stripes flat as opposed to joining in the round! If you’d like your scarf to be the same width as the cowl, i.e. 10.25 inches, you should still be able to complete the project with 2 balls of color A and 2 balls of color B. I hope this helps!
All the best,
Cat
Just now seeing your reply as got caught up in another project and then the holidays were upon us so involved with this, that and the other. Thank you so much for instructions, very much appreciated. New year, new scarf. Sending thanks and best wishes for the year ahead.
We love to hear that! Always happy to help! Let us know if you need anything else!