Wild Weather Neckwarmer

After several years of drought we’re not used to “proper” winter in the Cape. So last week was a cruel reminder. The weather was wild. At this time of year ferocious cold fronts howl in from the north Atlantic and batter everything in their path. The rain falls horizontal in the violent winds. And the squalls can catch you unawares as they barrel in at high speeds. And I really needed a wild weather neckwarmer!

The weather doesn’t get me down as it’s perfect for knitting. A bit of swatching got me to the “raindrop” stitch. The name felt appropriate. Plus I could do with some new winter woollies. So I converted the flat stitch to “knit in the round” and created the Wild Weather Neckwarmer pattern.

MATERIALS

• 1 x 100g skein Cowgirlblues Merino DK. in a semi-solid colour. I used Guinea Fowl. The solids show up the stitch detail beautifully.
• 4mm circular knitting needle
• One stitch marker
• Darning/Tapestry needle to finish your ends

SIZE

~21cm across and ~30cm long with the edges curled in naturally
It fits easily over my head which is ~60cm around at the forehead, just be careful with your cast-on and cast-off edges. If they are very tight you won’t be able to get it on.
You can very easily adjust the size by changing the number of stitches you cast on, just be sure to use a multiple of 6st.

GAUGE

~19st and 27 rows = 10x10cm in stocking stitch
The gauge is only important if you want to get the same size.

ABBREVIATIONS

K: knit
P: purl
YO: yarn over
SSK: slip 1 as if to knit, slip 1 as if to knit, slip both stitches back to the left needle and knit two stitches together through the back of the loop
R: row/round
St: stitch

KNITTING INSTRUCTIONS

I decided it was quicker and easier to work from the knit side and turn the purl side out when I finished. However my original swatch was knit with the purl side facing. Once you get the hang of it the pattern is pretty straight forward. There are two repeats of six rows each and you alternate these throughout. The stitch pattern is forgiving. If you look carefully at the swatch picture below you’ll see on the top pattern section I knitted too many rows. But it really doesn’t matter. And it might even make the pattern more interesting if your raindrops are all different sizes.

Cast on 84 stitches (or any multiple of 6st) using your preferred cast on method. It should be relatively stretchy or you won’t be able to get it over your head. My standard cast-on is the longtail cast-on using the thumb method so that’s what I used.
Join your stitches to form a circle, taking care to keep the stitches straight and not twisted.
Place a stitch marker to keep track of the beginning and end of round and work as follows:
R1: Knit
R2: K3, (YO, SSK, K4) repeat () to last 3 st, YO, SSK, K1
R3: K3, (P1, K5) repeat () to last 3st, P1, K2
R4 – 7: Repeat round 3
R8: (YO, SSK, K4) Repeat to end
R9: (P1, K5) Repeat to end
R10 – R13: Repeat R9
Keep working rows 2 – 13 to the desired length. I worked them 8 times then knit rows 2 – 7 one more time. This isn’t important as the ends curl in anyway.
To finish work one final knit round and then cast off.
Thread away your yarn tails, turn inside out so the purl side is outwards, and keep cosy!

Happy knitting!