Supplies: 1 Skein Cat Mountain Fiber Arts Fusion 500 yarn

5.5 mm/US Size 9 circular needle, 100 cm/40 inches or longer

I have found that a needle with a rotating join helps make this special cast on technique easier.

Finished cowl measures 195cm/76 inches in diameter and is 20 cm/8 inches wide.

Gauge: Approximately 15 Stitches = 10cm/4 inches. Gauge is not critical.

Before starting, lay out your yarns and plan the order in which you will use them. There are three smooth yarns, and two textured yarns (a boucle and an Alpaca Cotton blend) in the 500-yard Fusion skein. I recommend starting with a smooth yarn, which will be in the center of the cowl, and alternate smooth and textured yarns, with your favorite smooth yarn used last, as this will form the outside and most visible edge of the cowl.

For the purposes of this pattern, the five yarns will hereafter be referred to as Yarn 1, Yarn 2, Yarn 3, Yarn 4 and Yarn 5.

With the first ball of yarn that you have chosen (Yarn 1), Cast on 270 stitches using the Moebius Cast On (MCO) from Cat Bordhi’s A Treasury of Magical Knitting. (The instructions for the cast on can also be found in A Second Treasury of Magical Knitting.) Either of these books is well worth the money if you do not already have them. If you would rather not purchase the book, Cat has kindly created a You Tube video that shows how to do this cast on. It can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVnTda7F2V4&feature=kp

(or search You Tube for Cat Bordhi’s Moebius Cast On)

After completing the cast on, join with one twist as indicated in the Moebius Cast On instructions, place a marker at the first stitch, and proceed as follows, using the Moebius instructions for the first row:

Yarn 1: Knit 4 rows, break yarn.

Please note that as discussed in the Moebius instructions, each row will actually be 540 stitches long (twice the number of your cast on). Placing a stitch marker at the beginning of the row is a good idea not only to mark where to change yarns when the time comes, but to help you know how far you have to go to finish these very long rows.

Yarn 2: Purl 4 rows, break yarn.

Yarn 3: Knit 4 rows, break yarn.

Yarn 4: Purl 4 rows, break yarn.

Yarn 5: Knit 3 Rows, do not break yarn.

Begin Applied I-Cord Cast off, as described below.

Applied I-Cord Cast-Off.

Tip: This technique is easiest if you use a short double pointed or straight needle in the appropriate size for your right needle, though you may also use your circular needle.

At the beginning of the row, beginning with the first stitch on the left needle, cast on three stitches thus:

Insert right needle into first stitch on the left needle and knit the stitch. Do not remove the stitch from the left needle, but pull it towards you, twist it once and place the just - knitted loop onto the left needle (1 stitch has now been cast on). Repeat two times more.

Begin Cast off – Knit the first two stitches. Knit the next two stitches together (this will be the third stitch that you cast on, plus the first existing stitch). Slide all three stitches from the right needle back over to the left needle.

K2, K2tog, slide all three stitches from the right needle back over to the left needle. Repeat this until you are at the end. Slide the three stitches over to the left needle, K2tog, K1, Slip the first loop over the second loop and secure the end.

After casting off in this manner, you will want to join the first stitches with the last to create a solid band. Using the yarn tail, carefully weave seam the I-Cord ends together with a few small stitches.

Weave in remaining ends. Block if desired.

Notes:

The number of stitches (270) cast on for this project created a cowl that can be wound around your neck one, two, or three times. You may wish to adjust the number of stitches cast on or rows knit for each round for a longer or shorter (or wider) cowl. The sample cowl used approximately 365 Meters/400 yards of the 457 Meter/500-yard skein. I limited the number of rows to 4 (with only 3 on the last ball to accommodate the I-Cord bind off) because I did not want to change yarn in the middle of a row. But, feel free to be creative and do as you like with your cowl!

If you have questions about adjustments or what I did to create the sample cowl, feel free to email me at kimberly@catmtn.com.