Cordatus Cowl & Mitts by Varian Brandon, knit in Tough Love Sock (Wisteria, Tumbled Stone, and Birch)
Every time I look at our colour chips, I get the overwhelming desire to knit some kind of colourwork project with the different semi-solid shades that we dye. So when I met colourwork designer Varian Brandon last year I was immediately interested in working with her on something that would best show how our colours go together. Varian designed this gorgeous cowl and mitts set named Cordatus. This stranded-work set takes its name from a Latin word meaning “heart shaped,” reflecting the elaboration of a heart design of the main motif on both the mitts and cowl.
In this Cordatus Cowl and Mitts set, scrollwork and small crosses are found in the border and secondary designs. A six-round corrugated rib edges both patterns. The set is worked in the round carrying only two colours per round and can be completed using one skein of three colours of SweetGeorgia sock yarn (either BFL Sock or Tough Love Sock).
Materials
3 skeins SweetGeorgia Yarns BFL Sock (400 yd /365 m per 4oz / 115g skein; 80% superwash bluefaced leicester wool, 20% nylon) or Tough Love Sock (425 yd /388 m per 4oz / 115g skein; 80% superwash bluefaced leicester wool, 20% nylon)
Shade A: 1 skein Wisteria
Shade B: 1 skein Tumbled Stone
Shade C: 1 skein Birch
Needles & Notions
2 – 24” circular needles – US 4 (3.5mm) or 1 – set of 4 double pointed needles US 4 (3.5mm).
1 Stitch marker for cowl, 3 stitch markers for mitts, Scrap yarn for afterthought thumbs, needle.
Size
Cowl: 29” (73.5 cm) circumference
Mitts: 10 ¼” (26 cm) length, 4” (10 cm) width. (Note: Use smaller/larger needles to create a smaller or larger size.)
Gauge
Cowl: 30 sts and 31 rnds per 4 in. (10cm).
Mitts: 27 sts and 30 rnds per 4 in. (10cm).
Skill Level
Intermediate
Skills Required
Stranded knitting, knitting in the round, corrugated ribbing
One thing unique about this set is that the cowl is knit with a single-strand of yarn and the mitts are knit with a double-strand. This allows the cowl to drape and fall nicely around your neck, while the double-stranded mitts have more thickness and warmth. And both the cowl and mitts can be made with just one skein of each colour. Thank you to Varian for the beautiful pattern and to Fiona Ballard for test and sample knitting for us!
The pattern is available now on Ravelry here. We also prepared a few kits with yarns and colours in three sets that are ready to go:
We chose the original colourway set— Wisteria, Tumbled Stone, and Birch, as well as two additional sets — Deep Cove, Glacier, Birch (teal blues) and Terra Firma, Ginger, and Goldmine (warm golds and reds). These sets are available at 10% off the regular price (only $70 down from $78) and can be shipped right away. Hope you enjoy!
