Welcome to the second entry in our ongoing series Learn a Stitch, Make a Cowl! Each month in 2015 we will teach you a new crochet or knit stitch. You can then use the stitch when you make the featured cowl. This month our stitch is a checked pattern, and the cowl is the Candi's Checked Cowl in Soft. Use the hashtag #learnstitches to talk about the series. Download the Candi's Checked Cowl Free Pattern! Stitch For the cowl you'll use two strands of Soft held together, but I used one to make it easier to see. You'll start the cowl by casting on and joining in the round, then working 3 rounds of Garter stitch. Note: When you're working in the round, Garter stitch is by from alternating rounds of purl and knit stitches, while Stockinette stitch is made by knitting every round. This is the opposite of how these stitch patterns are formed when you're working back and forth in rows. This checked pattern alternates sections of Stockinette stitch and Garter stitch, in blocks of 5 stitches. The first round of the checked pattern is K5, P5 around. It can be difficult to see the different stitches at first. The second round is a regular knit round, knitting every stitch. Rounds 3 and 4 repeat Rounds 1 and 2, and then Round 5 repeats Round 1.fter Rounds 1-5, you have a nice checked pattern appearing. After the first 5 rounds of the pattern, you switch so you are working Garter stitch on the stitches where you previously worked Stockinette stitch, and vice versa for Round 6.gain you will knit around on Round 7, copy Rounds 6 and 7, and then finish the row repeat with Round 6 again. You've completed the entire 10 row repeat! From here you'll continue to repeat Rounds 1-10 for the rest of the pattern, before ending with another three rounds of Garter stitch. To see the other stitches and cowls in this series, visit the Learn a Stitch, Make a Cowl page.
