Schalkragen mit Zopfmuster in Schachenmayr Merino Extrafine 85 - S7052B - Downloadable PDF

Schalkragen mit Zopfmuster in Schachenmayr Merino Extrafine 85 – S7052B: Pattern Summary

This free downloadable PDF knitting pattern from Schachenmayr guides you through the creation of a cosy cable-pattern cowl collar (Schalkragen mit Zopfmuster), a circular neck warmer worked in the round with a generous circumference of approximately 90 cm. The finished piece is a chunky, textured accessory that sits warmly around the neck and shoulders, making it an ideal project for intermediate knitters looking to practice classic cable techniques in a relatively compact format.

What Is Being Made

The pattern produces a circular cowl or shawl collar worked entirely in the round. With a circumference of around 90 cm, the finished collar is wide enough to be worn loosely draped or pulled up over the chin for extra warmth. A decorative bobble round adds a playful finishing detail at the top edge, giving the piece a polished, hand-crafted look.

Materials Required

• Yarn: Schachenmayr Merino Extrafine 85, colour Mittelgrau meliert (shade 00292), 500 g total. This is a smooth, high-quality merino wool yarn classified as an aran weight, prized for its softness against the skin and excellent stitch definition — both important qualities when working cable patterns.
• Needles: Milward circular knitting needle, 60–80 cm in length, size 10 (approx. 6 mm). The pattern is worked holding two strands of yarn together throughout, which creates the dense, warm fabric appropriate for a neck warmer and accounts for the larger needle size relative to the yarn weight.
• Cable needle (Hilfsnadel): A short auxiliary or cable needle is required to execute the crossings in the cable pattern.

Techniques Used

• Working in the round (Rundstricken): The entire cowl is knitted in the round on a circular needle, so no seaming is required. All rounds are worked from the right side, which means knit stitches on right-side rounds appear as knit on the fabric face.
• Holding double yarn (mit 2 Fäden): Both strands of Schachenmayr Merino Extrafine 85 are held together and treated as a single working yarn throughout. This technique effectively doubles the yarn weight, producing a chunky, substantial fabric with excellent warmth and body.
• Cable crossings (Zopfmuster): The signature cable twist is worked on round 6 of each 12-round repeat. Five stitches are placed on the cable needle and held to the front of the work, five stitches are knitted from the left needle, and then the five held stitches are knitted — creating a classic 10-stitch front-cross cable. This cable repeat is worked a total of six times over 72 rounds.
• Bobble construction (Noppe): Round 73 introduces a decorative bobble row. Each bobble is formed by working 5 stitches from a single stitch — alternating knit and purl into the same stitch — then working 5 rows of stocking stitch over those 5 stitches before decreasing them back to one stitch using a combination of slip decreases and a central double decrease. This creates a neat, raised bobble that punctuates the top edge of the collar.

Stitches Used

• Knit stitches (rechte Maschen): Used for the cable panels and the knit columns that frame them.
• Purl stitches (linke Maschen): Used to create the reverse stocking stitch columns that set off the cables and give the pattern its textured relief.
• 10-stitch front cable cross: The central decorative stitch of the pattern, repeated every 12 rounds over a 19-stitch repeat unit.
• Bobble stitch (Noppe): A five-stitch bobble worked at the finishing round, adding dimensional texture to the cast