Gathering of Friends at Fibrefest 2019 by Ruth Buchanan

Gathering of Friends at Fibrefest 2019

Crochet
July 2019
Fingering (14 wpi) ?
3.5 mm (E)
437 yards (400 m)
UK
English
This pattern is available as a free Ravelry download

The 2019 Fibrefest of the Knitters’ Guild of NSW is a wonderful yarny opportunity, a gathering of friends. This crochet cowl pattern is being released to celebrate Fibrefest, a make-ahead pattern so that those who are going to Fibrefest and enjoy crochet can create their own versions of the one crochet pattern to wear and to spot others wearing too.
Up till Fibrefest, this pattern is available free. After 27 October 2019 this will become a paid pattern.
Last year there was a Fibrefest knitted shawl, but no crochet option. This year there will be both a knitting pattern and a crochet pattern.
As you can see from the designs on Ravelry, crochet can be beautiful and useful and doesn’t have to be fugly/ugly/uber-chunky or scarily fine. This design began as an experiment with some stitch patterns I particularly liked, the idea of a cowl, and the intention of using just one skein of yarn, and evolved into a very wearable, versatile design.
Being planned for Fibrefest, I wanted to use yarn from an Australian dyer. It was a #lifegoal (she says with a grin) when Kathryn of the Australian Wool Store named a rather beautiful blue colour “Ruth’s Blue” (it’s the colour of my eyes, I’d said!). Ruth’s Blue shows the stitchwork of this cowl rather well. (In case you wonder, I bought the yarn for this cowl).
It’s a 400m/100g skein of 4 ply/sock yarn and my finished cowl, laid flat, measures 22cm top to bottom and 44cm across the middle. (88cm circumference).
The pattern includes detailed instructions, photos and a ticksheet of rows to help you keep track of your work and progress.
If you have a little less yarn in your skein, you could choose to omit the picot or do a couple less rows at the end. The pattern explores these options.
The pattern is written in Australian/UK crochet terminology, but I will be drafting a version in US crochet terminology soon.
I look forward to seeing your Gathering of Friends cowls!
#cowl #crochet #stitchwork #free #texture #collar #Fibrefest #Fibrefest2019
Thank you to my kind testers, Becky, Sharon and Sally.