Artichoke French... with a cowl!

 

Oh, this winter has been a doozy!  I wear a wool sweater almost everyday and decided to add another one to my collection.... I had already knit 2 Artichoke French (one for Ysolda's Rhinebeck Sweater collection which is part of the permanent trunk show, and one for Bella) and I've always wanted one of my own! (details on Ravelry)

I did decide to make a few modifications, one because of the yarn I chose, and one to learn something new! First, I didn't include the "ninja" cuffs, one of my favorite parts of this pattern. I knit this with Knitted Wit Aran in Prussian Blue, a super squishy and soft next to the skin Superwash Merino. I had yet to knit a sweater with superwash as it doesn't wear as well but I really wanted to be able to wear this sweater without an underlayer. If I included the fingerless mitts I knew they would pill SUPER quickly and I wouldn't be happy, so I just skipped that part of the pattern.

Next up, I decided to challenge myself by adding a cowl to the neckline of the pattern... something new for me!  I learned alot about what works and doesn't work for cowl design with a little crowd sourcing on Instagram/Twitter/Facebook and then jumped right into it. I even managed to attach it incorrectly (with the RS facing out) and had to undo the pick up row and graft it back in place... a lot faster than reknitting the whole cowl neck!  Thanks to IrocKnits who came up with that brilliant solution!

A few of you asked if I would write up my Cowl neck modification and since it wasn't hard here you go:

Artichoke French Cowl Modification
Note: I chose to work short rows for the last 3 dec rounds (6 rounds total) as I thought this would help the cowl sit better.  These 6 rows were tricksy as the Artichoke French stitch needed to be worked on both RS and WS rows and I just went for it. (I'm not writing this up as it is different for every size and body shape... Carol Feller just came out with a great new class on working short rows that would be helpful should you need support with this!)

Bind off neckline with smaller needle.

With WS of work facing, pick up and knit 80[80, 80, 80, 80, 80] (80, 80, 90, 90, 90) [90, 90, 90, 90, 90] sts around, join for working in the round.
Knit for 3 inches.
Switch to larger ndl, continue knitting in the round for 1 more inch.
*K8[8, 8, 8, 8, 8] (8, 8, 10, 10, 10) [10, 10, 10, 10, 10], m1; rep from * around; 90[90, 90, 90, 90, 90] (90, 90, 99, 99, 99) [99, 99, 99, 99, 99] sts

Work Artichoke French Stitch (9 stitch repeat) around.
Work for 16 rounds total (4 repeats of 4 row pattern).
Purl one round.
Bind off!

Photo Notes: Thanks to my honey for heading over to Taughannock Falls with me yesterday when it warmed up above 32 degrees!  I've never seen Taughannock frozen like this in all the years I've lived here. I think it will be May before all that the ice is thawed!

Re the photo above where I am cracking up:  there was a gentleman just sitting on a picnic table when we showed up at the overlook... right as Max started taking pictures the dude whipped out a flute and started serenading the falls!  I'm afraid I didn't quite maintain the mature composure I'm known for : )!