Pattern Release: Systole Cowl

Depending on where in the world you live, it might be too hot for anything wool right now or it might still feel like winter. Where I live, we've finally had a taste of spring, but we're due to get a brief cold snap this weekend. Even when the weather is more temperate here this time of year, mornings always tend to have a bit of a chill to them, so while the days of wearing many wool accessories are probably past for now, sometimes I find I still need a light extra layer.

The new cowl I'm debuting today is just that sort of thing. It's small and lightweight, making it perfect to throw on when you need a touch of extra warmth but not so much that you soon find yourself overheating. Even if you don't need to wear it right now, it's one of those small, quick knits that are perfect when you still want to knit but don't want a lap full of wool.

This pattern started way back in August of 2017, when we traveled to Cape Cod on a family vacation. I visited a couple of yarn stores while we were there at the recommendation of some locals/frequent visitors and brought home some souvenir yarn, including these two skeins of Swans Island Washable Wool Sport that I knew I would use for a colorwork design.

I swatched when I got home and something was off, but other things were more pressing and it got put on the back burner. Then, a couple of months ago, I pulled out my swatch and set to work figuring out what was off and how to fix it. It took some time fiddling with the chart, but I finally got it looking the way I wanted to and dug out the yarn, which was just as pretty as I remembered (and thankfully hadn't gotten lost in the depths of the stash while it was waiting to be used!). Once I cast on, the cowl pretty much flew off my needles.

Though this design started as an abstract sketch, once it was knit up, I couldn't help but think that it looked like the readout on a heart monitor. Naming my designs is always one of the most difficult parts of the process for me, so I was glad to have an inspiration for a name. Systole is the term for the contraction of the heart that pushes blood out into the body. If you've watched enough medical dramas, then you know that the absence of it (asystole) is a very bad thing. There's nothing medical about the cowl per se, but I like the idea of the colorwork pattern signifying a beating heart in a way.

This cowl knits up in the round in one size that fits most children and adults. Although the finished size, after blocking, is about 20 in./50 cm around, I recommend using a slightly longer circular needle as a way of keeping your tension even and your floats loose. The entire cowl uses about 160 yds./146 m total, so if you have two 50 g skeins of the recommended yarn, you should have plenty to knit two cowls, particularly if you switch the colors for the second one. (Note that this yarn base is available in both 50 g and 100 g skeins; if you have larger skeins, you should be able to get four cowls out of two skeins!) My preview knitters used a variety of yarns for theirs (wool, wool/nylon, acrylic), and they all turned out great.

As with all my patterns, this one has been tech edited to ensure that it's easy to follow and error free. My preview knitters all had nice things to say about their projects, too, so I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who had fun knitting it!