Mixing Techniques

What do you do when you can’t decide whether you like the right side or the wrong side of your cowl better?  Transform the pattern from a right side/ wrong side design to a fully reversible one!

As I was knitting the brioche “turtleneck” section of our next upcoming release I was wowed by the Sea Glass foreground and The Wizard background. 

Then during a frog (yes, getting the right stitch count between the offset cables took a few attempts), the piece accidentally flipped inside out and a stunning reverse dark and light pattern met my eye.  This couldn’t stay hidden!  So, I went back to the drawing board to figure out how to take the original design concept and make it fully reversible.

Playing with techniques was such fun!  I “could” have just made the entire thing brioche, but that wouldn’t be very… uhm, me 😉. 

In the end, double knitting paired up beautifully with the brioche and achieved the desired completely reversible desire.

The addition of an optional striping pattern brought a little taste of the underside to the forefront. 

A cool method of increasing created an additional fun pattern detail!  Sneak insight – there isn’t a single kfb/ pfb, m1r/ m1l, or other “standard” type increase in the entire design.  Can you guess how it’s done?  Through the magic of double stranding one single stitch becomes two on the next row.

With the brioche edge worked contiguously (to save on finishing time), it was also a great opportunity to practice working brioche 2 colors at once.  Don’t worry, you don’t have to!  But if you want to, this is a small stitch commitment to allow you to expand your skill set 😊.

The overriding concept of the design was a cowl for the cold that would keep your chest covered and fit comfortably under a jacket when zipped up. Hikers and skiers, this cowl was designed with you in mind!

Have a great Labour Day Weekend!  This pattern hits your favorite pattern store next week!