Black Bear Cowl

Black Bear Cowl by Cozy Up Knits

What is Being Made

The Black Bear Cowl is a knitted neck accessory designed as a cowl—a close-fitting, tubular garment worn around the neck. This intermediate-level project creates a finished piece measuring approximately 12 inches in length before being joined into a continuous loop. The cowl is worked flat on needles and then seamed or grafted together to form the circular shape characteristic of cowl designs.

Techniques Used

This pattern employs several advanced knitting techniques that contribute to its intermediate difficulty level. The cowl begins with a provisional cast on, which allows stitches to be picked up later for seamless joining. The design incorporates multi-strand knitting, where yarn strands are held together throughout construction—specifically, two strands of fingering weight yarn combined with one strand of lace weight mohair. This creates texture and visual interest while building fabric weight and drape.

The pattern features distinct stitch sections that build complexity. Box Stitch forms the initial section and uses fundamental knit and purl combinations to create a textured pattern. Fisherman's Rib is incorporated as a later section, a classic stitch pattern known for its elasticity and three-dimensional appearance. The pattern utilizes yarn overs for decorative increases and knit two together decreases to shape the fabric as needed.

Stitches Used

• Knit (k): The fundamental stitch creating the base fabric
• Purl (p): The reverse of knit, used in combination to create textured patterns
• Slip 1 stitch with yarn in front (sl1wyif): Creates clean edges and is used at the beginning of rows
• Yarn over (yo): Increases that create decorative holes or lace effects
• Knit 2 together (k2tog): A right-leaning decrease used for shaping
• Garter stitch: Created by knitting every row, producing a reversible, textured fabric
• Box Stitch: A pattern combining knit and purl stitches to form geometric box shapes
• Fisherman's Rib: An advanced stitch pattern that creates a thick, elastic fabric with dimensional texture

Materials and Tools

The Black Bear Cowl requires fingering weight yarn as the primary material, with the main color requiring 100 grams (approximately 430 yards). The design also calls for lace weight mohair totaling 50 grams (approximately 400 yards), which is held together with the fingering weight for a blended yarn effect.

Five colors in 20-gram (86-yard) fingering weight mini skeins are used for accent sections throughout the pattern, allowing for colorwork and visual variety. The pictured example showcases the Black Bear colorway by Tofino Knit Co. as the main color, combined with Tofino Knit Co.'s sparkly five-skein mini skein set for the accent colors.

Needles required are 6.5mm needles with approximately 24 inches of cord, suitable for circular needle construction. The gauge for this pattern, measured in garter stitch knit flat and unblocked, is 15 stitches and 25 rows over 4 inches. The pattern begins with a provisional cast on of 38 stitches, which are later grafted together to create the seamless cowl structure.

Pattern Structure

The cowl is constructed in repeating sections that build the finished length. The core pattern repeats rows 1 through 8 until the piece reaches approximately 12 inches in length. Throughout construction, yarn is held triple—combining two strands of fingering weight with one strand of lace weight mohair—to create the desired fabric characteristics. Different mini skein colors are introduced in various sections, with the fourth mini skein being held along with the main color and mohair for specific pattern sections.