Swanky Stella

Swanky Stella Cowl by Patty Olson Designs

Project Overview

Swanky Stella is a beginner-friendly knitted cowl designed by Patty Olson. This downloadable PDF pattern creates a luxurious, textured neck accessory with finished measurements of 60 inches in circumference and 6 inches in height. The cowl is constructed as a mobius twist, adding visual interest and ensuring the design is reversible.

What Is Being Made

A chunky-weight knitted cowl featuring an assigned pooling pattern technique. The finished cowl wraps generously around the neck and shoulders, providing warmth and style. The mobius construction means the cowl has a continuous twist, creating a sophisticated design element that works from both sides.

Techniques Used

• Assigned Pooling Pattern: A deliberate yarn pooling technique where the knitter wraps the yarn multiple times around the needle when thick sections of the handpainted yarn appear, creating controlled color and texture placement throughout the cowl
• Mobius Twist Construction: After knitting, the cowl ends are twisted so the wrong side meets the right side before seaming, creating the distinctive mobius loop
• Kitchener Stitch: Used to seam the ends together with a provisional cast-on, creating an invisible, seamless join

Stitches Used

• Knit Stitch: The primary stitch throughout the pattern, worked in garter stitch (knitting every row) for texture and simplicity
• Provisional Cast-On: Used at the beginning to allow for later grafting with Kitchener stitch

Materials

Yarn: Universal Yarn Bamboo Bloom Handpaints in bulky weight, colorway #330 Wabi Sabi. This yarn blend contains 44% wool, 48% rayon from bamboo, and 8% acrylic, with yardage of 154 yards per 100 grams. One hank is required to complete the project.

Needles: US 11 (8.0 mm) circular needle in 16-inch length, or straight needles in the same size, chosen to obtain the specified gauge.

Gauge

The pattern requires 13 stitches and 14 rows to equal 4 inches when measured in pattern and blocked, ensuring proper finished dimensions.

Difficulty Level

Rated as beginner-friendly, making Swanky Stella an excellent project for knitters new to cowl construction and mobius techniques. The garter stitch base and straightforward pooling instructions make this accessible while still delivering sophisticated results.