Hillsborough Cowl

Hillsborough Castle and Gardens date back to the 1750’s. Built by the 1st Marquess of Downshire, it is a grand Georgian estate. In 1925, it was sold to the British Government and is the royal residence in Northern Ireland. It was only in 2019 that the castle and gardens were opened to the public. It was a visit to the gardens that inspired the name of the shawl I was knitting at the time, the colours of the flowers and foliage, echoing the colours of the yarns When I finished the shawl, I didn’t want to stop working with these beautiful colours and the stitch pattern was just so enjoyable. I knew I had enough leftovers from the shawl to create a cowl that would be both pretty to look at and really enjoyable to knit, hence the Hillsborough Cowl was born.

The cowl is a simple loop knit in the round, with no increases or decreases to think about. You can make the cowl deeper by adding more repeats of the pattern.