Collins Brook Cowl Tips

On this page you’ll find tips & techniques for working your own Collins Brook Cowl! Below you will find technique tutorials as well as tips on the stitch pattern, how to bind-off in pattern and the importance of blocking your cowl.

Stitch pattern tips

If you read over rounds 1-12 of the lace pattern in Collins Brook cowl, you’ll notice 2 things. 1) Every other round is just knit and 2) For the lace rounds (so the ones where you are decreasing and working YO’s), rounds 1, 3 and 5 are identical, and then rounds 7, 9, and 11 are identical. So Although there are a total of 12 rounds, 6 of them are just always knit, and then for the other 6, you only have 2 different rounds you are actually working (they’re just each repeated 3 times). So when learning this stitch pattern, focus on the fact that you really just need to get comfortable with 2 different lace rounds.

Binding-Off in Pattern

When it comes time to bind-off, I suggest to bind-off in the k1, p1 rib pattern (i.e, as each stitch presents itself). When a pattern says this, it just means that if the next stitch is a purl stitch (it has that purl bump at the stitch base), then you will purl it and then work the bind-off. And same goes for a knit stitch (or in this pattern, the stitch that was sometimes slipped and sometimes knit) – you will knit it, and then work the bind-off.

I worked a similar “BO in rib pattern” when working my Audrey’s Cardigan and have my video demonstration here. Keep in mind this is a 2×2 rib stitch vs the 1×1 rib worked in Collins Brook Cowl, but it will demonstrate the concept of binding-off in a rib stitch which will be helpful if you’ve never done this before.

Importance of Blocking

Due to the lace pattern, blocking makes all the difference in your finished Collins Brook Cowl. Just see the before and after blocking pictures below. If you are new to blocking, check out my blog post here!