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As usual, when I’m stumped and have no idea what to name a design, I ran a naming contest online. This time I did it a little differently, and had everyone leave their name suggestions on Instagram. I love the results. The knitter who suggested the winning name loves naming contests, and did a little research before making her suggestion. She named the design after Tronsen Ridge, a ridge in the Cascade mountain range that travels through my new home State of Washington. Tronsen ridge runs along the edge of this range, and acts as a divider between the Cascades and the high desert of eastern Washington.

The cowl is knit flat, from one end to the other, with fingering weight yarn held double, and larger-than-average needles for this yarn. The combination of garter stitch and ribbed cables makes the design completely reversible, and exactly the same on both sides. This makes it a perfect gift for those who always manage to wear scarves wrong-side out. Buttonholes are added near the end, and buttons are attached during finishing. Cowl can be buttoned in a number of ways, including as a Möbius, if a single twist is added before buttoning.

Coit Tower stands on the top of Telegraph Hill in San Francisco. There are two ways to get to Coit Tower: you can drive there — Lombard Street ends at the top of Telegraph Hill — or you can walk. By far the best route is via the stairs on the east side of the hill. There are two staircases that climb from the Embarcadero to the top of the hill (a rise of about 270 feet); one of them is Greenwich Steps. Both staircases wind their way through a tiny neighborhood of cottages with meticulously tended gardens that overflow with glorious flowers.

This rectangular shawl starts with a very long toe-up sock cast on (use your favorite one). It works out from this center line, increasing in width and length with every odd row. The shawl is worked in the round, and is seamless. Diamonds and flowers are accented with pretty little nupps. If you wish, replace the nupps with beads for a touch of bling.

I’ve been known to run the odd naming contest on my blog when I cannot come up with a good pattern name on my own. I did that recently for this cowl design. Because the stitch is patterned from an architectural feature, the graceful ogee, I wanted a name related to a specific building, region, or even a tile design, something directly related to the motif. A creative knitter suggested that I name this design not after the All Saints church in London — the church is filled with ogees, arches, and other stunning architectural details — but rather after the street where it is found, Margaret Street.

Cowl is knit in the round from one end straight through to the other. The lace is easy to do, especially once you find your rhythm, and is very pleasing. I’ve provided four different sizing options, but many more are possible by simply changing the number of times the motif is worked in a circle, and how many times the rows are worked.

According to my tech editor, the romance text I first wrote for this pattern needed a “sleek Swedish guy to give it new life.” That got my brain reeling, but not with anything that is printable. Whew.

Moving on… I’m a life-long book collector. In addition to piles of books of knitting, fiction, art, counted cross-stitch, needlepoint, gardening, as well as a fair number of other things, I have always been attracted to stitch dictionaries, and little books of patterns on a given theme. All three motifs in this design came from a slim little volume of Swedish colorwork designs that I’ve had so long that I no longer have a clue where or when I came across it. Once I had these lovely motifs working together, I needed a name for my design. I thought that something Swedish would be appropriate. A dear friend of mine happens to have grown up in Sweden, so I went to her for inspiration. Without my telling her, she thought the main motif looked like berries, and so suggested Vinterbär, which is Swedish for winter berries. Perfect!

The cowl is worked in the round, features folded hems, and three different colorwork motifs.

Vinterbär is available on Ravelry and Love Knitting. Enter discount code VINTERBAR to receive 15% discount at checkout. EU residents: please provide me with your PayPal email address and proof of purchase, and I will remit the difference.