Petal cowl pattern

A while ago, I made a post about some swatches that I was developing into patterns. Well, today I am publishing the first of my crazy stripe patterns.

Petal is a cowl designed to highlight the color shifts of a self striping yarn. The stich shapes are inspired by flower petals, fish scales, and vintage crochet afghans. A great summer knit, or a cold weather project when made in heavy yarn. A unique stitch is used to create an extra long chevron motif which set this cowl apart.
 

Finished Size: 10” (26cm) wide and 40” (100cm) around.

Yarn: 1 skein of Noro Taiyo Sock (shown in color 59), Silk Garden Sock or 462 yards of self striping fingering weight yarn. Gauge can be adjusted to work with any weight yarn.

Needles: Size 5 (3.75mm) 32”circular needles, or size needed to obtain gauge.

Gauge: 36 sts and 18 rounds in patt = 5 x 5” (12.5 x 12.5 cm) square.

Other Materials: 1 marker, sewing needle, pins, damp cloth, and iron for blocking.

Instructions are for fingering weight yarn, but are adjustable for any stitch count or gauge. I cannot wait to make this in Kureyon for winter.

graffitti yarn

It must be true about the hip-hop culture seeping deeper into the mainstream consciousness, or maybe just deeper into my yarn stash. This is a swatch of the "hand painted" result.

Yes, I hip-hop-ified my stash.

This is what you need to do yours:
Mercerized cotton yarn
Montana gold/black (krylon if you are old skool, spray paint in simple terms)
Some cardboard

Wrap your yarn around the cardboard, you can see that mine overlaps quite a bit, but, as long as the wraps aren't too condensed, the painting will be OK.

Note the box with my 12 favorite Montana colors, it is always good to keep them around for projects like this.

So shake the can and trow yo' piece up (Mix your paint as instructed on the can of your given brand. Spray with a quick, close burst. You should have a dot of color).

Continue to use this technique with as many colors as you want. I used 5. Note how close the can is to the cardboard.

I used vertical lines of color to ensure that the colors that I wanted to show more were actually hitting more wraps.

You can keep your colors dense like mine, or really spread things out and keep things monochrome.The amount of craziness infused into your yarn is really up to you.

Below is my swatch before washing:

 

And after.

The color and texture will soften and even out, and surprisingly the paint is safe in the machine. The marled, variegated color character is hard to find in a store, yet it is becoming a big commercial trend.

You will really have to try this technique yourself to see how it works. It is deceptively easy for something with such a finished, coherent look. I would recommend starting with Patons Grace cotton yarn ($5) from a craft store rather than an expensive cone of french cotton, but you can go with just about anything in your stash. Fuzzy fibers like wool, acrylic, or even an un-mercerized cotton will not paint as neatly, so always test with a swatch first.

Have fun!!