Ritalin Cowl.

My mom loves to tell the story about when I was a toddler and she begged the pediatrician for something, anything, to calm me down.  She insisted I was hyperactive.  He said no, he didn’t think so, but she could try this new medicine called Ritalin.  And if I wasn’t truly “hyper,” she would know it, because it would make me even wilder.  Not possible, she said.

Sure enough, a couple of hours later, she caught me trying to scale a brick wall in our living room.  Like a crazed spider trying to escape a metal bucket.  I don’t know what’s more disturbing, the story or the fact that our living room had a brick wall.  But hey, it was the ’70s.

The truth it, everyone who knits has a little ADD I think.  That’s why we all love casting on projects.  It’s why we all have (shhhhh) secret stashes.  And it’s why I like projects that don’t get boring.  So I have a fighting chance of staying engaged until it’s done.

That’s why I designed this Ritalin Cowl.  It’s perfect for ADD knitters.  Just when you get tired of a stitch, or a color, wheeeee here comes a new one!  I wanted to show off the amazing range of colors in this yarn from the Fiber Company called Acadia.

Acadia is an absolutely luscious, completely original 2-ply yarn with a subtle tweed effect and the softest hand – thanks to the luxe combo of merino wool, baby alpaca and silk.   I think some people are a little afraid of it at first, with its tweedy tufts of texture.  But Acadia works up like a dream and has surprisingly awesome stitch definition.

I had such fun choosing colors.  At first, I was sure I wanted to cull from the gorgeous blues and greys:

But I just kept gravitating to this warmer palette.  The purples and copper and crazy lime were just calling to me.  HEY LOOK, LOOK AT HOW SHINY WE ARE, A-D-D GIRL.

And so my Ritalin Cowl was born.

Now, I’ll bet you’d like the pattern already.

Ritalin Cowl
You will need 1 skein each of 4 colors Acadia.  I used Blackberry (A), Wild Onion (B), Amber (C) and Kelp (D).

Using #8 32″ circular needles, cast on 250 sts with Color A.  Join to work in round.  I tried not to twist, but I accidentally got one twist in there I guess…which isn’t the end of the world…just do your best.

Seed stitch border:
Rounds 1:  *K1, P1* to end
Rounds 2:  *P1, K1* to end
Repeat these two rounds 2x more for a total of 6 seed-stitch rounds.

Still working with Color A, knit 10 rounds.

Still working with Color A, work eyelet ridge section:
Purl one round.
*YO, k2tog* one round.
Purl one round.

Now switch to Color B, knit 10 rounds, and work another eyelet ridge section.
Switch to Color C, knit 10 rounds, and work another eyelet ridge section.
Switch to Color D, knit 10 rounds, and work a seed stitch border.  (There is no eyelet ridge in Color D.)

Bind off very loosely.  Lightly steam block.

Be creative with your Acadia colors, embrace your knitting ADD, and enjoy!

- Shelley
loopsknitting.com