by Nancy Vandivert

For anyone who lives in a snowbelt, snowfences herald the coming of winter and the graceful, sparkling drifts that form leeward of prevailing winds. Nowadays, orange plastic mesh is the preferred municipal material.

As a kid, I helped my dad erect the old-fashioned kind -- narrow weathered planks woven through heavy gauge wire. The linear design of this scarf reminds me of rows of partially buried snowfence receeding into the distance.

Snowfence is a cabled parallelogram. The length and width are adaptable to any yarn weight. This could be a snug cowl or a scarf of any length.

Either way, the bias stretch of this diagonal design will keep you warm and snug against the cold.

SIZE
Scarf
Cowl

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS
Scarf: 4.75 by 45.5 inches, after blocking
Cowl: 5.5 by 21 inches, after blocking

MATERIALS
Scarf (shown above)
Yarn
Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sport [100% Superwash wool, 200 yds per 70g skein];
Color: Buckingham Fountain #511, 2 skeins.

Recommended needle size
[always use a needle size that gives you the gauge listed below -- every knitter's gauge is unique]
US #4 /3.5 mm needles – straight or short circular as you prefer

Cowl (shown below)
Yarn
Madelinetosh Vintage [100% Superwash wool, 200 yds/182 m per 100g skein]; color: Blue Gingham, 1 skein.

Recommended needle size
[always use a needle size that gives you the gauge listed below -- every knitter's gauge is unique]
US #7/4.5 mm needles

Notions
cable needle
Yarn needle
Cowl only: 5 three-quarter inch buttons

GAUGE

PATTERN NOTES
[Knitty's list of standard abbreviations and techniques can be found here.]

C7L: Sl next 3 sts to first cn and hold in front of work, sl next st to second cn and hold at back; k1tbl, p1tbl, k1tbl; p1tbl from second cn; k1tbl, p1tbl, k1tbl from first cn.

SSP: Slip 2 sts, one-by-one, as if to knit. Return these 2 sts to left needle tip (they have been turned around). Bring right needle tip behind left needle tip and insert it (from the back) into the second and then the first sts on left needle, purl these sts together.

DIRECTIONS
CO 9 sts.
Row 1 [WS]: P1, (p1tbl, k1tbl), 3 times, p1tbl, p1.

Row 2 [RS]: K1, (k1tbl, p1tbl) 3 times, k1tbl, k1.

Row 3: Repeat Row 1.

Row 4 [RS]: Using Knitted CO, CO 9 sts, k1, (k1tbl, p1tbl) 3 times, k1tbl, p2, C7L, k1.

Row 5 [WS]: P1, (p1tbl, k1tbl) 3 times, p1tbl, k2, (p1tbl, k1tbl) 3 times, p1tbl, p1.

Row 6 [RS]: K1, [(k1tbl, p1tbl) 3 times, k1tbl, p2, (k1tbl, p1tbl) 3 times, k1tbl, k1.

Row 7 [WS]: Repeat Row 5.

Begin Increase Notches
Row 1 [RS]: Using Knitted CO, CO 9 sts, k1, (k1tbl, p1tbl) 3 times, k1tbl, [p2, C7L, p2, (k1tbl, p1tbl) 3 times, k1tbl] to last st, k1. 9 sts increased.

Row 2 [WS]: P1, [(p1tbl, k1tbl) 3 times, p1tbl, k2] to last 8 sts, (p1tbl, k1tbl) 3 times, p1tbl, p1.

Row 3 [RS]: K1, [(k1tbl, p1tbl) 3 times, k1tbl, p2] to last st 8 sts, (k1tbl, p1tbl) 3 times, k1tbl, k1.

Row 4 [WS]: As Row 2.

Row 5 [RS]: Using Knitted CO, CO 9 sts, k1, (k1tbl, p1tbl) 3 times, k1tbl, p2, C7L, [p2, (k1tbl, p1tbl) 3 times, k1tbl, p2, C7L] to last st, k1.

Row 6 [WS]: As Row 2.
Row 7 [RS]: As Row 3.
Row 8 [WS]: As Row 2.

For Scarf: Repeat Rows 1-8 five more times. 126 sts.
For Cowl: Repeat Rows 1-8 four more times. 108 sts.

Scarf Only: Repeat Rows 1-8 10 times more, or to desired length.
Cowl Only: Proceed to next section.

Scarf only: End Increase Notches, Continue Decrease Notches
Row 1 [RS]: K1, C7L, p2, (k1tbl, p1tbl) 3 times, k1tbl, [p2, C7L, p2, (k1tbl, p1tbl) 3 times, k1tbl] to last st, k1.

Row 2 [WS]: P2tog, then BO 8 sts (including the one that rems on the right needle after the p2tog), [(p1tbl, k1tbl) 3 times, p1tbl, k2] to last st, p1. 9 sts decreased.

Row 3 [RS]: K1, [(k1tbl, p1tbl) 3 times, k1tbl, p2] to last st 8 sts, (k1tbl, p1tbl) 3 times, k1tbl, k1.
Row 4 [WS]: P1, [(p1tbl, k1tbl) 3 times, p1tbl, k2] to last 8 sts, (p1tbl, k1tbl) 3 times, p1tbl, p1.
Row 5 [RS]: K1, (k1tbl, p1tbl) 3 times, k1tbl, p2, [C7L, p2, (k1tbl, p1tbl) 3 times, k1tbl, p2] to last st 8 sts, (k1tbl, p1tbl) 3 times, k1tbl, k1.
Row 6 [WS]: P2tog, then BO 8 (including the one that rems on the right needle after the p2tog), [(p1tbl, k1tbl) 3 times, p1tbl, k2] to last 8 sts, (p1tbl, k1tbl) 3 times, p1tbl, p1. 9 sts decreased.
Row 7 [RS]: K1, [(k1tbl, p1tbl) 3 times, k1tbl, p2] to last st 8 sts, (k1tbl, p1tbl) 3 times, k1tbl, k1.
Row 8 [WS]: P1, [(p1tbl, k1tbl) 3 times, p1tbl, k2] to last 8 sts, (p1tbl, k1tbl) 3 times, p1tbl, p1.

Repeat Rows 1-8 until 18 sts rem, ending on Row 8.

Repeat Rows 1-8 until 18 sts rem, ending on Row 8.

Both Styles: Final Decrease Section
Row 1 [RS]: K1, C7L, p2, (k1tbl, p1tbl) 3 times, k1tbl, k1.
Row 2 [WS]: P2tog, then BO 8 sts (including the one that rems on the right needle after the p2tog), (p1tbl, k1tbl) 3 times, p1tbl, k2,p1. 9 sts decreased.
Row 3 [RS]: K1, (k1tbl, p1tbl) 3 times, k1tbl, k1
Row 4 [WS]: P1, (p1tbl, k1tbl) 3 times, p1tbl, p1.
Row 5 [RS]: K1, (k1tbl, p1tbl) 3 times, k1tbl, k1.
BO rem sts.

FINISHING
Weave in ends and steam or wet block.
For Cowl, overlap ends and sew 5 buttons opposite buttonholes.

Nancy Vandivert happily admits to being a knitting nerd. She knits, crochets, spins, teaches, sews, and lives outside of Rochester, NY with her husband, two college-age daughters, and three cats. Besides designing, her other knitting passions are ethnic mittens and sharing different knitting traditions with whoever will listen. She is a TKGA certified Master Hand Knitter and has been published in Knitty and CAST ON magazine. Her Lilac Festival Bag pattern won second place in the 2011 TKGA Masters Design contest and is available from Yarnmarket.com.

Her other designs and full teaching schedule can be found here.