When Nancy Marchant’s Bramen Cowl was released this month, I was excited to see it made use of a sewn cast off, a personal favourite of mine. Sewn cast offs have a lot to recommend them. They tend to be stretchy, so you won’t end up with a cowl that won’t fit over your head. They’re a fabulous match for a long-tail cast on. And I find the sewn action of the cast off pleasing and meditative to work.
The sewn cast off, a perfect match for the two colour long-tail cast on.
When it came time to cast off the Bramen Cowl, I was extra excited to find that it used a sewn cast off that was new to me — there is indeed always something new to learn! This version, sometimes known as the Stem Stitch Cast Off or Outline Cast Off, binds off stitches from right to left (you’ll see some variants that work from left to right). Here’s Jen, demonstrating this clever and surprisingly easy-to-work cast off:
Keep a special lookout for Jen’s tips for evening out your cast off tension every ten stitches or so (rather than, ahem, getting so excited about trying your new cast off that you charge ahead without fully listening to the instructions).
Keen to try out the sewn cast off, along with the other techniques featured in the Bramen Cowl? You can purchase Boost Your Knitting in the online shop, and there’s still plenty of time to whip up this quick and satisfying knit for this month’s Boost Your Knitting knitalong, which celebrates the tuck stitch! If you’re at Edinburgh Yarn Fest this weekend, you can also find Jen and Jim on stall J12, where you can join Boost Your Knitting and find plenty of beautiful yarn — including the Schoppel Gradient used for the Bramen Cowl!