I met Rowan of Fox Eats Fibre Yarns at a craft fair late this summer, and fell in love with her gorgeous hand-dyed merino yarn. Out of all the wonderful shades, the pretty purple-green colorway, ‘Honesty Plant’ stuck out to me.

My grandmother, a florist, had an extensive garden filled with flowers, but she always had a fondness for honesty (technically Lunaria annua, but it’s a good pun in English, right?) because of its beautiful bright purple flowers, rambling green stems, and pretty, moon-like seed pods.

So, it seemed natural to try and create a design that showed off the colors and drape of this lovely yarn, and echoed the cottage garden elegance of the plant from which it takes its name.

I ended up with a simple, one-piece in-the-round cowl that combines Indian Cross Stitch with a 3x2 rib and the added textural detail of a Vikkel braid. The cowl is knit on 4.5mm needles for an airy, open texture, but you can easily go down a needle size to achieve a tighter, neater, more uniform look.

If you haven’t tried Indian Cross Stitch before, it’s infinitely easier than it looks, and really quite fun. I also love the way that the garter stitch between the rows of crossed stitches forms a natural wave – just like the way plants in a busy garden tangle together – so, if you want to focus more on that feature, feel free to omit the Vikkel braid section, and instead stack more cross stitch repeats on top of each other and watch the pattern flow!