Ribbed Cowl Knitting Pattern

This easy ribbed cowl knitting pattern is a perfect way to practice knitting ribbing, and to play with working a pattern flat versus in the round.

I thought it would be fun to make a cowl that’s knit flat part of the way and in the round part of the way so that it opens up across your shoulder to make it a little easier to wear. The result is super cozy and pretty fun to knit, too.

Supplies for Ribbed Cowl

As always I’m working on using my yarn stash, and I had a fair bit of this Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride worsted weight yarn left over from a long ago book project that I wanted to use. It’s a great American made yarn, and I love the color, and it had been sitting in my stash far too long.

It ended up being less than two skeins, about 236 yards total (it weighs 159 grams).

I also used a size 8US/5 mm circular knitting needle for both the flat part and the circular part so I didn’t have to change needles part way through. The needle can be whatever length that’s shorter than 24 inches that you have handy.

You’ll also want a stitch marker for knitting in the round, and scissors and a yarn needle for finishing.

Gauge

Gauge isn’t super critical on this project but I got 29 stitches and 22 rows per 4 inches/10cm in double/2×2 ribbing unstretched.

Size

My cowl is 11 inches/28 cm long and 25 inches/63.5 cm around. If you want to make yours bigger around cast on more stitches, making sure you have a multiple of 4.

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Ribbed Cowl Knitting Pattern

The ribbed cowl knitting pattern is worked from the bottom up, starting with the flat part and then joining in the round. If you have more yarn and want to make either part longer, feel free to do so.

To begin, cast on 184 stitches. Do not join in the round.

*Knit 2, purl 2. Repeat from * across.

Repeat this row until piece measures about 6 inches/12.7 cm or desired length.

To join in the round, do not turn the work, and push the stitches from the beginning of the row you just knit to the end of the left hand side of the needle.

Place a stitch marker and begin to knit again, starting with the stitches that were the beginning of the previous round.

Work the pattern in the round until the piece is 11 inches/15.24 cm from the point of the join, or desired length.

Bind off loosely in pattern.

This ribbed cowl knitting pattern is great to wear with the flat part tucked inside your coat. I also like to fold the top part of the cowl in on itself as shown in the photos to make it extra cozy.

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