A gift from Jane for Knitters

Jane shared with us cowls made with a "Magic Ball"  The Magic Ball, is put together with different types of yarns you have in your stash. 

2012 Magic Ball Cowl

-----Merry Christmas from Jane Vandenburg

1 magic ball of yarn… (aprox. 140 to 180 yards, mixed fibers -- sock,Dk,worsted) Make your own from your stash. I suggest that the first and last yarns of the ball match and are about 16 yards long. All other yarns - 8 to 12 yards or so in length. I suggest you use the Russian joint instead of knots as you make the ball.

#11 24 inch circular needle (could be a #10½)

Cast on anywhere from 110 to 140 stitches.
(if using the #10½ needle you will want to use 125 to 140 stitches)

Join to knit in the round
, taking care not to twist the ring of stitches. I suggest the knitted cast on as it is stretchier than the long tail. (Optional – You can place a marker to show the beginning of rounds….. but a marker is not really needed.)

Knit about 5 rounds
to make a curling edge to your cowl.

Now just knit
and knit and knit……… ….. if you get tired of the knit stitch throw in some purls….. 50 or 75 or so here or there, every now and then….. and go back to plain knitting. -- Or – You could knit a round, purl a round, repeat -- Or --You could throw in lines of *YO, k2tog, k1* -- Or -- whatever texture you like.

The last yarn in the ball is the same as the first. When you get to this yarn, knit one round (you can use the yarn joint as your beginning of the round marker) and about 25 more stitches. (or -- work until you have just enough yarn for 2 rounds to use for the bind off.)

Now bind off like this—
Knit 2, slip them back to the left needle, knit them together through the back loop (k2togtbl), now repeat…. *K1, sl 2 back to left, k2togtbl* and keep repeating until you have one stitch left. Knot off, weave in the tail….

….. and ENJOY!

© 2012 personal use only




I recieved mine as a gift.  It was a surprise as each color/texture of yarn appeared.  I cast on 130 stitches, on an 11"  knitting needle.  I did 4 rows of knit then 4 rows of purl, until I ran out of yarn. 
Thanks Jane!