The Beanstalk Cowl is a one-skein fingering-weight cowl featuring the same columns of lacy leaves and twisted ribbing as my Beanstalk Hat and Beanstalk Shawl patterns. This is my first cowl design with a tapered shape, which is created by working occasional increase rounds to add extra twisted-rib columns between the ‘beanstalks’. The wavy edges are created by the lace pattern, and add to the cowl’s general prettiness.

The pattern includes instructions for one size: 11”/28cm high, 22”/56cm circumference at the top, and 32”/81cm circumference at the bottom.

A few notes on potential modifications:

Adding a 24-stitch repeat will increase the circumference at both top and bottom (remember to allow for the extra yardage)
The height can be altered by working a different number of 6-round repeats between the increase rounds
If you’d prefer a slightly chunkier look and a stiffer fabric, you could substitute 200g of DK or worsted-weight yarn and cast on fewer 24-stitch repeats on larger needles (I would try US 6 / 4mm or larger). You might also wish to work fewer repeats between increase rounds.

The Beanstalk Cowl + two of my Beanstalk Hats

I had a bit of a journey settling on the right yarn for this design! At first I had my heart set on using my gorgeous skein of Farmhaus Fibres Grounded Twist (a BFL/nylon blend) in the Copper Red colourway. Unfortunately, as you can see from the swatch photo below, the stitch pattern just isn't shining like it should, and for a design sample I really need to showcase the stitch pattern. So I switched to the gentle grey colourway Perfect Day on Farmhaus Fibres’ non-superwash base Homestead Merino, and it was indeed perfect.

Unfortunately this yarn is currently unavailable (its creator is on a dyeing hiatus), but hopefully I’ll be able to give you enough detail on its special properties to give you confidence in substituting a different yarn.

First of all, it’s a fingering-weight yarn with two twisted plies, composed of non-superwash fine merino, with 437yds/400m per 100g skein. My Beanstalk Hat and Shawl samples were also knit in non-superwash yarn, which I find helps to highlight the texture of the lace and ribbing in these designs. Colourway choice is also important for this pattern, as I discovered when swatching - the stitch pattern stands out the best in a solid or very-nearly-solid colourway. A number of my preview knitters also made beautiful cowls using subtly-variegated yarn. I think the problem with my Copper Red swatch lies with the tiny golden flashes which are much lighter than the base colour. If you do choose a semi-solid or variegated yarn, go for one that is low-contrast.

Comparing two yarn options - the stitch pattern is much clearer in the near-solid Perfect Day than the Copper Red

I blocked my cowl very simply by soaking it in warm water with a little wool-wash, rinsing and gently squeezing, and spreading it out flat on a blocking mat. I decided not to use pins or wires to avoid flattening the texture too much (and because skipping them makes for a much quicker blocking session). This method also preserves the naturally wavy edges - I decided to embrace them this time, rather than flattening them out as I did when I blocked my Beanstalk Shawl using wires.

Beanstalk Cowl features:

A tapered cowl knit in the round from the top down, with alternating columns of lacy leaves and half-twisted ribbing
One size is included in the pattern, which uses only a single 100g skein
Requires 417yds/381.5m of fingering-weight yarn (shown in Farmhaus Fibres Homestead Merino)
Choose a non-superwash wool yarn in a solid or near-solid shade
Cowl dimensions, relaxed after blocking: 22”/56cm narrowest circumference, 32”/81cm widest circumference, and 11”/28cm height
Charts and written instructions are both provided in full.