Oil Paint Cowl

The Oil Paint Cowl features an all-over colourwork pattern using the ‘marlisle’ technique pioneered by Anna Maltz. The stylised pattern of brushstrokes is stranded using one colour only, and the garter stitch background is worked with both colours held together.

I was lucky enough to visit an amazing Van Gogh exhibition last year, and was so inspired by the bold brush strokes, textures, and colour play. Pick a favourite painting of your own to inspire your cowl’s colours!

Skills & Techniques

  • Stranded colourwork (tutorial: How to knit marlisle colourwork in the round)

  • Long Tail Cast On and Decrease Bind Off (both optional)

  • Knitting in the round

  • Charts and written instructions are both provided in full (the written colourwork instructions are made possible by the small 8-stitch repeat)

Materials Needed

  • 2 skeins of Malabrigo Mechita in contrasting colourways (100% merino; 420yds/384m per 100g skein), or 218yds/200m of fingering weight yarn for the Main Colour (MC) + 271yds/248m for the Contrast Colour (CC). Sample colourways: ‘Sheri’ (MC) + ‘Frank Ochre’ (CC)

  • US 6 / 4mm circular needles (or needle size that gives you the right gauge)

  • A stitch marker, and a needle for weaving in the ends

Finished Measurements

  • 23”/58.5cm circumference, and 11”/28cm height

  • You can alter the circumference by adding/subtracting a multiple of 8 stitches, and the height by adding/subtracting one or more 14-round repeats.

Read more about the Oil Paint Cowl and its inspiration on my blog.