Maltings: the Unravel KAL pattern

Maltings: cowl for the Unravel KAL

Maltings is a gorgeously textured cowl inspired by barley grains. Shaped to fit, it is narrower at the top and gently flares out to sit perfectly on the shoulders.

I wanted to create something I’d love to wear to a show – pretty but practical. Cowls keep us warm on a cold morning, stay neatly out of the way when we’re petting yarn, and can be folded up into a pocket as the day warms up. Perfect.

This pattern has been designed specially for the Unravel Festival of Knitting, which takes place every year in Farnham Maltings. The building was formerly a maltings where barley was taken to be germinated for use in the beer brewing process, hence the grainy inspiration for the pattern. It is an amazing space, full of nooks and crannies that get filled up and taken over by yarn vendors of all kinds.

This large DK size sample of Maltings was knit in Baa Ram Ewe’s Dovestone DK in their brand new colour Rhubarb.

One of the things I love about Unravel is that they aim to include vendors that are local to the show. Knowing that this project was for a knitalong leading up to the show, I’ve designed the cowl to showcase yarns that are local to you – wherever you are. It’s been really exciting to see people joining in and chatting on the Unravel KAL thread on Ravelry – with knitters joining us from as far away as Texas!

Maltings works for gently variegated colours too, shown here in The Little Grey Sheeps’ Stein Fine Wool in Her Other Life.

Knit in the round from the top down the cowl can be tried on and adjusted for desired height and “slouch”. The vintage-inspired stitch pattern makes Maltings an intermediate project – but there are no cables. If you fancy an easier, faster version of the cowl without any shaping instructions are also given in the pattern for a Mini Maltings.

Sizes
Small: 44cm/17″ round top, 69cm/27″ round base, 21cm/8″ tall
Large: 52cm/20″ round top, 90cm/36″ round base, 28cm/11″ tall

Materials
Small: 300m/330yds 4ply/fingering weight yarn
3.0mm/US 2.5 & 3.25mm/US 3 needles (EITHER dpns OR circular needles with a min 80cm/32″ for magic loop)
Large: 330m/360yds DK/sport weight yarn
3.5mm/US4 & 3.75mm/US 5 needles (EITHER dpns OR circular needles with 60cm/24″ cable)
Both sizes: stitch marker

Tension
Small 4ply/fingering: 26 sts to 10cm/4″ over Stocking Stitch/Stockinette with larger needles, or size needed to get gauge.
Large DK/sport: 24 sts to 10cm/4″ over Stocking Stitch/Stockinette with larger needles, or size needed to get gauge.

Maltings features gorgeous textured stitches and is designed for 4/ply fingering and DK weight yarns. L-R: Baa Ram Ewe Dovestone DK in Yorkstone, Kettle Yarn Co. Beyul in Steppe, The Little Grey Sheep Stein Fine Wool 4ply in Her Other Life, Kettle Yarn Co. Beyul in Iceberg, and Baa Ram Ewe Dovestone DK in Rhubarb.

Samples shown in the pattern are in:
Small: Kettle Yarn Co. Beyul (60% superwash Merino, 20% yak down, 20% silk, 366m/400yds per 100g skein) 1 x Steppe (green-gold)
Small: The Little Grey Sheep Stein Fine Wool 4ply (100% Stein Fine Wool, 430m/470yds per 100g skein) 1 x Her Other Life (pastels)
Large: Baa Ram Ewe Dovestone DK (50% Bluefaced Leicester, 25% Wensleydale Longwool, 25% dark brown masham) 2 x Rhubarb (fuchsia)

Close up of the fancy rib stitch, which is used all-over for Mini-Maltings, shown in Baa Ram Ewe Dovestone DK, 1x Yorkstone.

Instructions are also given on how you can “play” with the pattern using anything from 4ply/fingering weight right up to worsted weight yarns. You might be familiar with the “play” concept from my book Knit Play Colour, where all the patterns are similarly flexible. If you’re interested in playing with patterns and picking the right yarn for a project, I’m also teaching a workshop at Unravel on substituting yarn.

Click here to download Maltings pattern for free, until Unravel finishes on 21st Feb 2016! After this date, Maltings will be a paid-for pattern available on Ravelry. The Maltings pattern page is already available on Ravelry however, so you can link your project, queue it and so on.

If you have any questions I’ll be happy to help on the Unravel KAL thread on Ravelry, and I do hope you’ll join us! We’ve already started picking our yarns…