Meadowgrass

Meadowgrass Cowl by Larissa Brown

What is Being Made

The Meadowgrass Cowl is a knitted neck accessory designed by Larissa Brown. This cowl features a generous circumference of 46 inches (117 cm) when worn, with a height of 16 inches (41 cm), creating a substantial layering piece. When laid flat, the cowl measures 23 inches (56 cm) across. The design incorporates a main color body combined with lace sections worked in five coordinating colors, making it a visually striking and versatile accessory suitable for various color palettes.

Knitting Techniques Used

The Meadowgrass Cowl is knit in the round from the bottom up, which creates a seamless, continuous tube structure ideal for cowl construction. The pattern employs garter stitch as the primary fabric structure, a fundamental knitting technique that creates a reversible, textured fabric with horizontal ridges. The design incorporates lace sections worked in multiple colors, adding visual interest and demonstrating intermediate colorwork skills within an otherwise beginner-friendly project. The use of stitch markers throughout the construction helps manage pattern repeats and color changes, while blocking with steam finishing ensures proper shaping and drape of the completed cowl.

Stitches and Stitch Techniques

The pattern uses essential knitting stitches and techniques appropriate for a beginner-level project:

• Knit (k) – the fundamental stitch forming the garter stitch fabric
• Purl (p) – used in combination with knit stitches to create textured effects
• Knit two together (k2tog) – a decrease technique used in lace sections to create openwork patterns
• Cast-on and bind-off techniques – establishing and securing stitches at the beginning and end of the project

The pattern accommodates flexibility in stitch counts, offering a cast-on option for a smaller cowl or allowing knitters to choose any multiple of 18 stitches, making it adaptable to different preferences and yarn quantities.

Materials: Yarn and Needles

The Meadowgrass Cowl requires fingering weight yarn, which is a fine yarn weight that creates delicate, detailed fabric. The pattern calls for 430+ yards of fingering weight yarn in the main color, plus 85+ yards each of five coordinating colors for the lace sections. The sample shown uses Six and Seven Fiber Milo in Plum as the main color, combined with a Six and Seven Fiber gradient set in All These Wonders for the lace color work, demonstrating how gradient yarn sets can create beautiful color transitions throughout the design.

Knitting needles required include US 6/4 mm circular needles sized to accommodate 270 stitches for the main fabric, and US 8/5 mm circular needles for sections requiring different gauge. The pattern specifies a gauge of 20 stitches and 40 rounds equaling 4 inches (10 cm) in garter stitch using the main color yarn and larger needles. Additional tools include 15 stitch markers for managing pattern repeats and color changes, pins and a steam iron for blocking and finishing, and a yarn needle for weaving in ends.