Wasatch in Autumn

I have a friend who is moving out of the country and I wanted to design something for her. I was excited to work on something else besides tree bark so I put that project on hold for a weekend to create something different. She liked the neckwarmer with clasps I created for stewartia so I used that as my starting point. Then I asked her what she would miss the most. She said the mountains --our mountains near Salt Lake are called the Wasatch Range and they can be very beautiful, especially in the fall. I found this photo I took a couple years ago of the Wasatch Front in the fall to help with my inspiration.

So with those elements in mind, and taking into account her Norwegian heritage, I came up with this stranded color-work design. A nod toward Norwegian sweaters with an image of the Wasatch Mountains, including Mount Olympus’ twin peaks.

It was my first time steeking and I found it very scary but fun. The cowl is knit in the round using stranded color-work and then it is steeked or cut. The steeks are covered with grosgrain ribbon to hold them in place. Long bands of ribbing are added at the ends to hold the clasps.

I am publishing the patternon my Ravelry page and have graded it for three sizes. I made the small size to fit snugly around the neck but larger sizes will hang more loosely. I hope she likes the neckwarmer I made for her, and she thinks of Utah every time she wears it.