A Pretty Seam for This Crochet Cowl!

Instead of trying to hide a seam, turn it into a bold beautiful statement.

Invisible Seams are Tricky

There are many ways to seam crochet, whether you slip stitch or single crochet the edges together, or you sew it with a yarn needle. Depending on the edges to be seamed, seaming them together unobtrusively may be impossible—no matter how many different seaming methods you try.

Neck Warmer? 'Seams' Even Trickier!

For my newest cowl, the Burly Bias, I didn't even attempt an invisible seam, for two reasons. First, the seam would most often be worn to the front, as you see above. Yikes.

Second, the stitches are going in two different directions. One edge is along the ends of rows. Normally this is great with Tunisian crochet. Tunisian row ends have a naturally seam-ready chained edge (especially when you do #4 in this list).

The other edge is one complete row (NOT along the ends of rows). In other words, the stitches in the two edges to be seamed are at right angles to each other. They're perpendicular.

Here it is worn sort of sideways.

This seaming situation is really common with the type of cowl called a neck warmer. Slip Tectonics is a great example.

'Seamly' Star Stitches

Do you love it? I'm so glad I used a soft long-striping yarn so that I could pull out a color to use for the star stitch seam.

Now to do this with all the neck warming things!

Cowl of Star Stitches and Lovers Knots

My newest cowl design is Lovelace. I have wanted to crochet two fancy, historic stitches together in one pattern for a long time! I wonder if it has ever been done before.

Historic Stitch Combo

I think of Lovelace as uniting north and south. This is based on all the research I did into the history of these stitches. 

Starwirbel is star stitches
crocheted in very fine wool,
just like in old Norway!

Both originated in the mid-1800's. I can trace star stitches back to Norway, where warm wool yarns were used. Even though some of the earliest star stitches were lacy, they were crocheted with wool, not a cotton or silk crochet thread.

Electra is 100% lover's knot
in fine, fancy yarns. 

Meanwhile, the lover's knot (a.k.a. Solomon's knot, or simply knot stitch) was always crocheted with crochet thread, and the finer the better! So delicate and lacy—so summery—that from a distance the strands appear to dissolve in the sunlight.

My Lotus yarn held together
with a strand of glittery mohair.

Love knots are perfectly happy to be crocheted of yarn too, even wool. For Lovelace I used a medium (worsted weight) merino wool yarn, and swatched many others, which all worked beautifully.

Lovelace swatched in handspun angora!

Crocheting these two together is a fun and exciting Intermediate skill-level experience. It makes a truly special gift. Make it as long or wide as you like; I included information for customizing the size in the pattern.

Lacy Star Stitch Crochet Cowl: Spiraling Starwirbel

Starwirbel Cowl-Capelet

Crocheting star stitches that look this lacy has been a fun discovery! Earlier this year I was preparing to teach a new crochet class on star stitches. This is when I learned about the incredible lace textures star stitches can have. 

The Starwirbel Cowl came together quickly as a design for several reasons. With a big crochet hook, each star gets you where you want to go faster.

You can use all different kinds of yarn. (Link goes to the Starwirble projects page in Ravelry. Also see its crochet along here.) 

I used a yarn that has bitsy sequins here and there, with some mohair and silk. I couldn't put it down!

It's crocheted in the round with no turning—that means it's a spiral. I love how you can really build up speed and momentum when crocheting in a spiral.

I named it "Starwirbel" for this reason. the "wirbel" part is a German word for whirl. That's what the spiraling construction felt like to me while crocheting it. 

Before I found the term "wirbel" I was thinking of names like "Star Whirl" or "Star Funnel." I think "Starwirbel" is more distinctive and memorable. Also, I love that several German crocheters have purchased this pattern.


This pattern is not free and I really appreciate each and every purchase of it. Starwirbel comes with a great photo tutorial. It also benefits from all the information I gleaned from the (frankly outrageous) amount of research I did on star stitches for my star stitch classes!