FO: Zig Zag Cowl

Yarn: Lion Brand Wool-Ease
Needle: US8
Pattern: Improvised (rav project page)



To make it, I used Cat Bordhi's video on mobius cast-on (on youtube). I cast on 180 stitches in this manner, knit one round as instructed in the video, then proceeded to knit in the same pattern as the hat:

Round 1, 3, 5: *K1, M1L, K9, K2tog, SSK, K9, M1R, K1*
Round 2, 4: Knit all
Round 6, 7, 8: Purl all

I repeated these 8 rounds twice, then did Rounds 1 and 2 and cast-off with a super stretchy cast off (youtube video). Because of the nature of mobius knitting, the rounds are really long (360 stitches), so in that way it seems a bit of a slog-fest, but this project actually went pretty quickly, knit up in probably less than 4 hours.

Cat Bordhi recommends a long needle (40-something inches) but I only had a 36" size 8, so I made it work, but it was a challenge, and if I make one of these again, I'll get the longer needle for sure. I also wish I had done another set of 8 rounds before casting off--because of this pattern, the cowl condenses laterally quite a bit. This will provide extra warmth, but I would have liked it a bit taller. I'm really not a huge fan of this yarn, though, so I was itching to cast off ASAP. I also wouldn't have minded if it was a bit longer. If I ever make this again, I'll add 24 more stitches to the cast on. (Note: To get the pattern to work with the mobius method, you need an odd number of pattern repeats.)



This cowl is intended to match my Copy Cat Hat and I'll be taking them with me to Canada next week. I also plan on making a pair of mittens to go with them, but first I need to finish up the hat I'm making for Raj!