Daunt Cowl
Daunt: Easy to Knit, Easy to Finish, Easy to Wear
I'm thrilled to announce the release of the Daunt cowl.
What knitter isn't attracted to mini-skein sets? The options are endless, but sometimes, they're also paralyzing. What do you DO with those scrumptious bundles?
Similarly, many knitters have endless bits and bobs, leftover from other projects. You can possibly imagine throwing away perfectly good yarn, so you stash them for later, only to have them sit and sit...Daunt solves both of these problems. It's a highly adaptable yet detailed pattern that presumes you have a bunch of contrast colors and one main color. The pattern is front-loaded so that you invest some time and thought into winding a huge, multicolored ball of yarn, which means when it's time to knit, you can just fly. The pattern is written so that you can have any number of minis of any yardage, meaning it's the best of stash-busting patterns. A new video tutorial on the Kino Knits YouTube channel walks you how to tie magic knots for the color transitions. And no matter whether you prefer outer-pull or center-pull balls, the pattern accounts for it.
The cowl begins with a provisional cast-on (don't worry - there's a video tutorial for that, too!), and then you knit knit knit in the round. Because your colors are all already prepped in the winding process, there's very little thought involved, meaning this is perfect travel or TV knitting. (#askmehowIknow) Watching the stripes develop is terribly potato-chippy, and just when you might be getting bored of plain 'ol stripes, they veer off at an angle with the help of some simple short rows, which adds both knitting and visual interest.
Daunt is easy to knit and easy to finish. All those magic knots hide inside the tube of fabric, so when you get to the end of your yarn (and you can use ALLLL your yarn with this pattern... no leftovers!), you just have to graft the tube shut and weave in two ends. That's it. All those colors, and only two ends.Daunt is also easy to wear. The size of your cowl will depend on how much yardage you put into it, but you can loop it one or multiple times for a variety of looks. It's perfect for anything from football games to visiting the farmers' market to doing yard work. The level of fanciness really depends on the yarns and colors you use. Sock yarn is a classic, but don't be afraid to add texture, yarns with a halo, or even some sparkle. Just aim to use a similar weight/gauge throughout.
The Daunt cowl is named in honor of Daunt Books, a London bookstore with lots of great travel resources. In fact, I knit some of the sample while sitting in their shop! Plus, you may have noticed that mine was knit with a Nancy Drew-themed mini-skein set - you can encode your own fandom into your cowl.
How to Get Daunt
Kino Knits is dedicated to producing thoughtful, interesting, well-written patterns. As both a thank you to the Kino Knits community, and as a chance for new fans to try a Kino Knits pattern, the Daunt cowl is free for Kino Knits newsletter subscribers. Just sign up via the link below, and you'll receive a coupon code that will take off 100% of the purchase price during your Ravelry checkout. That said, if you would like to support the work of Kino Knits designs and the Kino Knits podcast, you are welcome to pay the full price of just $5. As always, you can expect a pattern that might take you to somewhere you've never been before while still holding your hand. Kino Knits empowers you to make it your own but will never throw you off the deep end.
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View Daunt in Ravelry