When we saw the Lightwood Cowl by Jennifer Steingass, we knew immediately that we would have to knit one up using our beloved Fiberstory Fave Sock and Gradient Sets!
Lightwood is an excellent way to add Jennifer's lovely, stranded botanicals to your knitting on a smaller scale than a full fledged sweater. And, Fiberstory's rich, gradient hues will keep you knitting "just one more row" to see how the next color looks!
For our cowl, we used 1 skein of Fiberstory Fave Sockfor the background and 1 Fiberstory Gradient Set for the leaf motif. The gradient is made up of 7 mini-skeins of Fave Sock dyed in a perfect gradient. Fave Sock is a springy, superwash merino that feels amazingly soft next to your skin!
Lightwood is a simple, fair isle design knit in the round. Using a provisional cast on, you'll knit this piece in a tube and then kitchener it together at the end. This gives you a double layer of squishy Fave Sock for warmth and a double-sided design as well.
We used each color of our Gradient Set twice; one color for each leaf motif. We did a have a bit of yarn left over, so you could add more repeats, but keep in mind that you won't be able to use all the colors a third time.
Our version has about a 26" inch circumference- not too close around your neck, but plenty of body to stand up against the cold.
We were very taken with the cheerful cordial Fave Sock colorwayand decided to add the subtle, neutral tones of the smudge Gradient Set for a warm, cozy appearance.
In selecting our favorite colorways, we made sure that the full skein of Fave Sock wasn't going to be too close to any of the colors in the Gradient Set, so the pattern doesn't get lost. You can see our selections below!
If you'd like to choose your own colorways here's a pro tip: a full skein of steel or drift looks fantastic with ALL the Gradient Sets!
Top row: truffle + sabrina, coastal + squeeze, squeeze + dusty plum
Bottom row: blackberry + gilded, cordial +snow, liv + shimmer