This is part 1 in a 12 part series highlighting designs from our 12 Days of Winter, series 5 Edition.
Hello all! 12 Days of Winter is upon us again, and this year marks the 5th year of our kit collection. We’ve gone above and beyond this year to deliver the best kits and patterns possible, and we’ve aimed to showcase as many of our beautiful yarns as we can in the collection. I thoroughly enjoy designing for the 12 Days of Winter because there’s so much variety in designs, all centered around the same thing: the joy of wintertime. I’m a person who loves all things winter and holidays, so I tend to have what feels like endless ideas for these particular projects.
For Day 1 of Winter, I designed the Crystalline Cowl. I’m often inspired by nature and color for designs, but in this case, I was inspired by a place I’d love to travel to someday. My absolute ‘dream’ place to visit or even to live would be in the Alsace region of France. This idyllic European region looks like it is the center of a fairytale book series, and I think that would make it such a special place to live. The mixture of the golden lights and the white snowy rooftops in photos of Alsace during winter were my inspiration sources for the Crystalline Cowl.
Some of the techniques you’ll explore in the Crystalline Cowl pattern are:
- knitting in the round
- grafting
- slipped stitch textures
- bobbles
No matter where you live, a hand knit cowl will keep you cozy, warm, and stylish on cold days. One of our newest yarns, Minou , was my first choice for this ‘lights and snow’ inspired design. When we first introduced Minou, we knew it would create an incredible, fuzzy lining for accessories. I decided to make the Crystalline Cowl fully lined with the Minou yarn in the color 101 Borzoi. First, the lining is knit using Minou held on its own. Once you complete that portion of the cowl, you join our Dona yarn in the color 101 Vanilla and begin the ribbed bottom of the cowl body. Dona is a soft and plush superwash extrafine merino yarn, perfect for garments and accessories. This combination of yarns feels like something ideal to wear walking along a charming street of shops on a cold winter day.
Finally, to compliment both of the main yarns, I added glimmering Universe in the color 10-03 Crystal. Universe is a unique, shimmering blend of linen and cotton with a metallic thread wrapped around the base. It adds an ethereal, magical glimmer to any project that reminds me of the reflection of lights on snow. Universe is held with Dona for the main jacquard and bobble pattern worked over the body of the cowl. The cowl is long enough to wear draped over your shoulders, or doubled up for maximum coziness. Once all sections are complete, the lining is flipped inside the main cowl, and the ends are grafted together. Top tip: if you’d like to skip the provisional cast-on and grafting called for in the pattern, you can simply cast on and seam the lining to the main cowl body. There you have it- you’ve made the most squishy, soft, and luxurious feeling accessory ever!
I can certainly see someone sporting their Crystalline Cowl while walking around a Christmas market in Strasbourg. Known as the ‘Capitale de Noel’ or Capital of Christmas, Strasbourg is certainly on my wintertime travel bucket list, and I’ll be bringing my Crystalline Cowl with me when I go! Tell us in the comments: what place inspired a knit or crochet project you’ve made?
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about the inspiration for this design, and can’t wait for you to see all of the 12 Days of Winter projects for this year.
Remember, these exclusive kits can be purchased at local yarn store retailers near you. Each kit comes with the pattern, the yarn required to make it, a mini Universal Yarn project bag, and stitch marker. Use our store locator to find your nearest Universal Yarn retailer!
Happy crafting,
Aubrey
