Fortnight Lily Cowl

Fortnight Lily Cowl by Nancy Hand

What is Being Made

The Fortnight Lily Cowl is a circular knitted cowl featuring a botanical floral design inspired by the fortnight lily, Dietes iriodes. This cowl measures approximately 8.25 inches wide and 38 inches in circumference, making it a versatile neckwear piece suitable for layering and everyday wear. The design showcases a prominent flower panel with an optional diagonal band that can be worked in a contrasting color for added visual interest.

Techniques Used

This intermediate-level knitting project employs several key techniques to achieve its finished structure:

• Provisional Cast-On: The pattern begins with a provisional cast-on of 66 stitches, which creates a temporary foundation that will later be removed to access live stitches for grafting
• Chart-Based Colorwork: The design is worked from a detailed chart marked for optional two-color work, allowing knitters to introduce a diagonal band in a contrasting yarn color while maintaining a single-color option
• Grafting: After completing the knitted fabric, the cowl is finished using the grafting technique, where live stitches from the provisional cast-on are joined to the live stitches at the bind-off edge, creating a seamless circular construction
• Stockinette Stitch Foundation: The base fabric is worked primarily in stockinette stitch, providing a smooth surface that showcases the floral motif

Stitches Used

While the pattern relies heavily on stockinette stitch as the primary fabric structure, the floral design is created through charted stitch variations that form the lily motif and optional diagonal band. The exact specialty stitches are defined by the chart provided in the pattern, which guides stitch placement across the 190-row repeat worked twice for a total of 380 rows.

Materials

Yarn: The pattern calls for Cascade 220 Fingering weight yarn, which is a light fingering weight (4-ply) suitable for creating delicate, detailed colorwork. The sample was worked in Kentucky Blue #9661. For a single-color cowl with 2 repeats, approximately 400 yards (366 meters) is required. When working the optional two-color version, allow approximately 210 yards (192 meters) for the diagonal band and 310 yards (283 meters) for the flower panel. Two skeins of Cascade 220 Fingering (273 yards, 249 meters per skein) provide sufficient yardage for this project.

Needles: US 4 (3.5mm) needles are used to achieve the proper gauge with the fingering weight yarn. Optional stitch markers (7 to 9) may be helpful for tracking pattern repeats and maintaining consistent stitch placement throughout the project.

Gauge: The pattern is worked at a gauge of 15 stitches and 20 rows per 2 inches (5 centimeters) in stockinette stitch, which is essential for achieving the intended finished dimensions.