Bistro Cowl
Imagine you’re in a bustling cafe with woven rattan chairs set around a table just big enough for you and your closest confidante… Très charmant! Be transported there anytime with our breezy Bistro Cowl, featuring a clever linen stitch variation reminiscent of those classic bistro chairs.
You may be surprised that to create this color play you only use one color at a time and simply alternate knit and slip stitches. No purling, no floats, no fuss, and no shenanigans!
Cotton Pure’s satisfying smoothness and earthy, cool touch make this cowl perfectly light for warmer weather. One hundred percent organically grown, this cotton is also unmercerized, which makes it soft and supple with a pleasing matte finish.
We just added 10 exciting new colors to the Cotton Pure collection, including Violet Orchid (paired here with Peach Peony) and Brown Date (paired with Alabaster Cream). You now have over 30 colors to choose from!
If you want to make the woven rattan pop to the foreground, choose a light color for Color B and a more saturated one for Color A. Pick up two skeins of each, and travel to that cafe in your mind every time you wear your Bistro Cowl!
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!
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, #PurlSohoBistroCowl, and #PurlSohoCottonPure. We can’t wait to see what you make!
Materials
- Purl Soho’s Cotton Pure, 100% organically grown cotton yarn. Each skein of this sport weight yarn is 279 yards/ 100 grams.
- Color A: 2 skeins; approximately 335 total yards required. We used Violet Orchid for one sample and Brown Date for the other.
- Color B: 2 skeins; approximately 555 total yards required. We used Peach Peony for the Violet Orchid sample and Alabaster Cream for the Brown Date one.
- US 7 (4.5 mm), 40-, or 47-inch circular needles
- A stitch marker or scrap yarn
GAUGE
30 stitches and 49 rounds = 4 inches in stitch pattern
SIZE
Finished Dimensions: 56 inches circumference x 10½ inches tall
NOTES
STITCH MULTIPLE
This pattern is worked over an odd number of stitches.
SLIP STITCHES
Slip all slipped stitches purlwise with yarn in front (wyif).
CARRYING UP YARN
Be sure to carry non-working yarn up the inside of the work when you switch colors. For a few tips, visit our Stripes in the Round Tutorial!
PATTERN
With Color A and using a basic Long Tail Cast On, cast on 419 stitches.
TIP: When you’re casting on so many stitches, it really helps to place a marker or piece of scrap yarn every 50 stitches. That way, when you lose count (which you will!), you won’t have to recount all the stitches. Just remember to remove these markers when you work the first round.
Place a stitch marker and join for working in the round, being careful not to twist the stitches.
Round 1: With Color A, *k1, slip 1 (see Notes), repeat from * to last stitch, k1.
Round 2: With Color B, *slip 1, k1, repeat from * to last stitch, slip 1.
Round 3: With Color B, *k1, slip 1, repeat from * to last stitch, k1.
Round 4: With Color A, *slip 1, k1, repeat from * to last stitch, slip 1.
Round 5: Repeat Round 3.
Round 6: Repeat Round 2.
Repeat Rounds 1–6 until piece measures approximately 10½ inches from cast-on edge, ending with Round 1.
Cut Color B.
With Color A, repeat Round 4 one more time.
Bind off in pattern as for Round 1.
Weave in ends and gently wet block.
Learn About Cotton Pure + All Our Beautiful Yarns
As special as it is popular, our Cotton Pure brings true natural beauty to this project. 100% organically grown cotton, this sport-weight yarn feels exceptionally soft and supple in your hands, and it comes in tons of gently heathered colors you won’t find anywhere else! Making something big, like a blanket or sweater? Shop our 1,000-gram Cotton Pure On A Cone collection, too!
More Free Knitting Patterns
- Be sure to explore our vast collection of (mostly free!) Cotton Pure knitting patterns and cast on!
More Sport-Weight Yarns
- Shop our entire collection of sport-weight yarns
- If you want to use a different yarn, be sure to take the time to get the correct gauge. Need help? Check our All About Gauge Tutorial!
More Yarns With Similar Fiber
- Shop cotton yarn
- Shop plant-based yarn
- Shop machine-washable yarn
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!
It looks great.
Could you please let me know if this pattern can it be worked flat, as a scarf?
Hi Rosamond,
Thank you for writing in and we are so happy this pattern caught your eye! I’m afraid this stitch pattern doesn’t easily convert to working flat as you will find yourself needing to cut and reattach many times in order to keep your yarns in line. I’d recommend checking out the two-color linen stitch instructions from our Colorfield Hand Towel pattern which would be great for a similar look to this one. Although it varies slightly from the stitch pattern here, it would still result in a beautiful multi-color fabric! I hope this helps but please let me know if you have any other questions!
Happy knitting,
Gavriella
I love love love this pattern, but am not a cowl person. Could this be adapted into a scarf? TIA.
Hi Elizabeth,
That’s a great question! I would recommend checking out our Colorfield Hand Towel pattern for instructions on a two-color linen stitch worked flat! This would be a wonderful alternative to make a scarf and would still result in a wonderful fabric. I hope this helps but please let me know if there is anything else I can assist you with!
Happy knitting,
Gavriella
Hi! To knit this flat, if I wanted to make a throw blanket, would I just purl instead of knit on the wrong side rows, slipping with yarn in back? Or am I thinking about it the wrong way? (Also thinking of just knitting in the round and steeking…)
Thanks!
Hi Kate,
Those are some great ideas! You definitely can knit this blanket in the round and steek for the easiest option! I found that just reversing the stitches required me to to cut and reattach the yarn many times when trying it out flat so steeking would be an ideal option! Just one thing to keep in mind is that you will need to knit the project using 100% wool in order to complete the steeking process. I hope this helps but please let us know if you have any other questions!
All the best,
Gavriella
Ciao
Non riesco a trovare le note indicate con gli asterischi.
Potete aiutarmi? Grazie mille 🤗
Hi Anna Maria,
Thank you for asking! The asterisks indicate the sections of the instructions that you will need to repeat all the way down your row. You can also check out our handy Reading a Knitting Pattern tutorial that has a great in-depth explanation about asterisks, brackets, and parentheses that I always find very helpful. Please let us know if you have any other questions!
All the best,
Gavriella
Could a scarf be knit on a round needle and every other row move the stitches to the other end of the needle instead of turning?
Thus
Work the row
Move stitches to the other end of the needle and work the row
Turn and work the row
Move stitches to the other end of the needle and work the row
Repeat these 4 rows.
Hi Fran,
Thank you for writing in! I’m not entirely sure this would work but I definitely encourage you to give it a try! It’s always nice to find new ways of knitting by experimenting. I also want to share that if you are interested in a two-color linen stitch, our Colorfield Hand Towel pattern has some wonderful written instructions. This way you could just keep knitting it as long as you’d like!
Happy knitting,
Gavriella
How do you think coastal blue and lavender would look together. I find the online color choosing so difficult
Hi Julie,
Thank you for writing in! Wow, I will have to say I think those colors would work wonderfully together. I really think the hues would complement each other well with the cool tones in each color! For an even higher contrast, I think Moonflower Blue and Violet Orchid could work wonderfully too! I hope this helps!
Happy knitting,
Gavriella
I love the look of this and, even as a newer knitter, I think I would be able to make it! In the picture, does she have it wrapped around her twice? Would it work to make a smaller circumference (keeping total cast ons an odd number) but taller for a slouchy look?
Hi Sandra,
We are thrilled this pattern caught your attention! That is exactly correct, this pattern was designed to wrap twice and could absolutely be done with less stitches for a taller cowl. I hope this helps but please let us know if there is anything else we can help with along the way!
All the best,
Gavriella
Hi,
I love this pattern but would like to make it in warmer /winter-wear yarn. What would you suggest?
Thanks,
Shannon
Hi Shannon,
Glad to hear that this pattern caught your eye! I would recommend using another sportweight yarn that’s made of animal fibers instead of cotton. In particular, Wigeon, Good Wool, and Season Alpaca would work great for this pattern. Just be sure to knit up a gauge swatch before beginning so that you can choose the best needles to match the gauge of the pattern. Hope this helps!
All the best,
Lili
This is a little like the mosaic dot cowl which also has a flat scarf variation. https://ravel.me/mosaic-dot-scarf-2
I think the commenters who want a scarf could try this pattern in cotton pure
Very beautiful. I have a doubt, rounds 5 and 6 are with colour B (like 3 and 2)?
Thankyou.
Hi Ana,
That is correct! You will knit those rounds with color B. I hope this helps clarify but please let us know if you have any other questions!
All the best,
Gavriella
I would love to make this, can I check one thing. When working in the round should I add 1 additional cast on stitch (420) then join in the round so that I still end up with 419 each round? Thanks
Hi Amy,
You can definitely join your yarn that way but we didn’t find it necessary for this project. I hope this helps!
Happy knitting,
Gavriella
Hi,
How do I carry over the yarn when I’m doing the slip stitch as the first stitch. I feel like there’s a hole and can see the non-working yarn on the pattern.
Hi Julie,
Thank you for writing in! You will want to be sure to carry non-working yarn up the inside of the work when you switch colors. You can see a better visual on how this can be done in our Stripes In The Round tutorial which I have linked in this comment! I hope this helps!
All the best,
Gavriella
Hi,
The patterns do not match at the joining stitch. Please help.
Hi Julie,
Thank you for writing in although we are sorry to hear you are running into issues here. Could you please send a photo of your project to [email protected] so we can have a deeper look? We’ll be able to better visualize what’s going on that way!
All the best,
Gavriella
How can I knit the pattern joglessly?
I tried 10 times of different stitches, odd or even numbers but still can’t make the pattern even out in the last and first stitch transition.
Hi Margaret,
I’m afraid that there is not a good way to avoid the jog in this stitch pattern! Jogless stripe techniques are usually geared towards regular stripes, and not linen stitch or variations on linen stitch. I think that the beauty of this stitch pattern overall will catch people’s eye though, and no one will notice the jog (especially if you wear it in the back)!
All the best,
Lili
That’s very helpful information, thank you so much to let me know, so I can stop trying any new methods but I kinda feel sad about this beautiful pattern.