The Southampton Cowl

The Southampton Cowl by Aunt Janet's Designs

Project Overview

The Southampton Cowl is a beginner-friendly knitting project designed by Janet Jameson. This downloadable PDF pattern creates a stylish cowl featuring a unique mobius construction that allows both loops to display the right side of the fabric when worn doubled around the neck.

What Is Being Made

This pattern produces a cowl—a versatile neckwear accessory that wraps around the neck and can be worn in multiple configurations. The finished piece is constructed as a mobius cowl, meaning the cast-on stitches are intentionally twisted before beginning to knit, creating a continuous loop with a single twist. This design allows the cowl to be doubled around the neck with both visible sides showing the attractive right side of the knitted fabric.

Knitting Techniques Used

The Southampton Cowl employs fundamental knitting techniques suitable for beginners. The primary technique is in-the-round knitting, worked on circular needles to create a seamless tubular fabric. The pattern incorporates a mobius twist at the cast-on edge, which requires purposely twisting the cast-on stitches once before beginning Row 1 to ensure they lay flat and create the characteristic mobius loop. This technique ensures both sides of the cowl display properly when worn.

Stitches Used

The Southampton Cowl uses two primary stitches worked in alternating sections:

• Stockinette Stitch—created by knitting all rounds (K around), producing the smooth, flat fabric characteristic of stockinette. This stitch appears in Rows 5–6, 9–10, 13–14, 17–18, and continues throughout the pattern.
• Ribbed Stitch—a (K2, P2) repeat worked around, alternating with the stockinette sections. This rib pattern appears in Rows 1–4, 7–8, 11–12, 15–16, 19–20, and beyond. The ribbing creates vertical texture and helps the cowl maintain its shape and elasticity.

The alternating sections of stockinette and ribbing create visual interest and textural variation throughout the finished cowl.

Materials and Specifications

The Southampton Cowl requires super bulky weight yarn, approximately 11 ounces total. The sample cowl shown in the pattern was knitted using "Hometown USA" yarn by Lion Brand in the Cambridge Tweed colorway, requiring just under 3 skeins. Super bulky yarn creates quick, satisfying progress and produces a warm, substantial fabric ideal for neck wear.

The pattern calls for Size 13 (9.0mm) knitting needles, which are appropriately sized for super bulky yarn and contribute to the gauge of approximately 9 stitches and 12 rows per 4 inches in stockinette stitch. A stitch marker is optional but helpful for tracking rounds during in-the-round knitting.

Difficulty Level

Rated as a beginner project, The Southampton Cowl is accessible to knitters new to the craft. The pattern uses only basic knit and purl stitches and straightforward in-the-round construction. The primary new technique for beginners is the mobius twist at cast-on, which is clearly explained in the pattern instructions.