Daystar Cowl in Rowan Alpaca Soft DK (Eng) - Downloadable PDF

Daystar Cowl by Martin Storey – Rowan Alpaca Soft DK Pattern Summary

About This Design

The Daystar Cowl is a beautifully crafted knitted cowl designed by Martin Storey for Rowan, published in 2020. It is worked as a seamless tube in the round, making it a satisfying project for knitters who enjoy colourwork and want a stylish, wearable accessory. The design is rated intermediate in skill level, making it ideal for knitters who are comfortable with basic techniques and ready to explore two-colour knitting methods.

What Is Being Made

This pattern produces a single knitted cowl — a close-fitting, circular neck warmer worked entirely in the round on a circular needle. The finished cowl features a decorative fairisle colourwork motif bordered by a two-colour ribbed cuff section, giving it both texture and visual interest. The seamless construction and use of luxury yarn make this an elegant yet practical accessory suitable for cooler seasons.

Yarn and Materials

The pattern is written specifically for Rowan Alpaca Soft DK, a double knitting weight yarn celebrated for its soft handle and gentle drape — qualities that come from its alpaca content and make it particularly well suited to accessories worn close to the neck and face.

• Yarn A – Rainy Day (shade 210): 2 x 50gm balls
• Yarn B – Tea (shade 205): 1 x 50gm ball

Two colourways are used throughout the cowl, with Rainy Day forming the dominant background colour and Tea providing the contrast used in both the ribbing and the fairisle chart pattern.

Needles Required

• 3¼mm (US 3) circular needle, no more than 60 cm (24 in) in length — used for the two-colour rib section
• 4mm (US 6) circular needle, no more than 60 cm (24 in) in length — used for the fairisle body section

The use of two different needle sizes is intentional: the smaller needle creates a firmer, neater rib, while the larger needle allows the fairisle section to maintain the correct tension and drape.

Tension

The stated tension is 28 stitches and 25 rows to 10 cm, measured over two-colour rib using the 3¼mm circular needle. Achieving the correct tension is especially important in colourwork projects, as stranding yarn across the wrong side of the fabric can cause the fabric to pull in if worked too tightly.

Techniques Used

This pattern introduces and relies on several key knitting techniques that are characteristic of traditional colourwork knitting:

• Knitting in the round: The entire cowl is worked as a continuous tube using a circular needle, eliminating the need for seaming and producing a clean, professional finish. A stitch marker is placed to denote the beginning and end of each round.
• Two-colour ribbing: The cowl opens with a section of two-colour rib, worked by alternating knit stitches in Yarn A and purl stitches in Yarn B. This creates a stretchy, textured band with built-in colour contrast. The yarn not in use is stranded across the wrong side of the work throughout this section.
• Fairisle (stranded colourwork): The main body of the cowl is worked using the traditional fairisle technique, in which two colours are carried simultaneously across each round, with the yarn not in use stranded loosely across the wrong side of the fabric. This technique produces the characteristic geometric or repeating motif associated with fairisle knitting.
• Chart reading: The fairisle section is worked from a colourwork chart, with a 14-stitch pattern repeat worked 14 times across each round. Knitters should be comfortable reading knitting charts and understanding how repeats function in the round.
• Stranding: Carrying the unused yarn across the wrong side of the work (stranding) is central to both the rib and the fairisle sections. Keeping an even tension while stranding is key to a neat, professional result.