Big Herringbone Cowl by Purl BeeOMG! Heart this herringbone stitch from Purl Bee’s Big Herringbone Cowl. The pattern is offered for free on their website! And it comes with excellent photos of how to do the Herringbone Stitch.

They also have a huge collection of lovely free knit and crochet patterns. A bonus is each pattern features really nice tools like these Blue Sky Double Pointed Needles (they’re made of dark rosewood from Vietnam!) and lovely photos. Drawback is they’re hard to wade through. The “Whit’s Knits” patterns are usually my fave. A post about my fave picks coming soon.

Materials
5 skeins of Blue Sky Alpaca’s Worsted in Ecru #2003, Alpaca/Merino Blend $20.60 per skein
Needle: US #17, 32 inch circular needle.
Jumbo Stitch Markers

Gauge
15 stitches = 4 inches in herringbone stitch

Finished Size
14 inches wide and 58 inches around

Herringbone Cowl by Purl Bee - Stitch Detail - Right Sidel Herringbone Cowl by Purl Bee - Stitch Detail - Wrong Side

Pattern from Purl Bee

Cast on 220 stitches. To ensure that your first round isn’t too difficult, cast on fairly loosely; your stitches should easily slide up and down the needle.

Join into the Round. Make sure the stitches aren’t twisted around the needle, and slip the last stitch you cast on from the right needle to the left needle (so that it is next to the first stitch cast on).

Place a replaceable jumbo stitch marker on the right needle.

K2tog and slip only the first stitch off the left needle (leaving the second stitch on the needle)…

…so it looks like this.

Continue
Round 1: *K2tog and slip only the first stitch off the left needle, repeat from * until 1 stitch remains.

Remove the stitch marker and k2tog, slipping the first stitch off the left needle. Place the stitch marker to the right of the first stitch on the right needle.

The next stitch looks like this…

Remove that stitch from the needle and twist it so it looks like this…

Round 2: *K2tog through the back loop (K2tog tbl), slipping the first stitch off the left needle, repeat from * to last stitch. Remove the stitch marker and k2tog tbl, slipping the first stitch off the left needle. Place the stitch marker to the right of the first stitch on the right needle.

The next stitch looks like this…

Remove that stitch from the needle and twist it so it looks like this…

Repeat Rounds 1 and 2 until piece measures 14 inches from the cast on edge, ending with all the steps of Round 2.

Bind Off
NOTE: You will continue to work the Herringbone Stitch for the bind off.

Bind Off Round: [K2tog and slip only the first stitch off the left needle] 2 times, pass the first stitch over (just like a normal bind off), *k2tog and slip the first stitch off the left needle, pass the first stitch over, repeat from * until 2 stitches remain (1 stitch on the left needle and 1 stitch on the right needle), knit the last stitch tbl and pass the first stitch over. Cut the yarn and pull it through the remaining stitch.

Weave in the ends, gently block and then bundle up!