Hello, everyone!
I hope that you're all having a great week with lots of crafting and fun. This week I have another new pattern for you, the Interference Cowl! This pattern is done in collaboration with Knit Picks through their Independent Designer Partnership and features their super squishy, Chroma Twist Bulky.
This was a really fun pattern to work on and came about rather quickly. I had ordered these two color-ways (Lupine & Sugar Cookie) with the idea of doing some sort of color-work project and was surprised at how bright and beautiful they were when they arrived. I play an on-line knitting game with some Ravelry friends and for one of our challenges we needed to make something quickly. Bulky yarn is super quick to work up and I was itching to work with this yarn so I tried a few stitch patterns and landed on this variation of brioche: the Crossed Brioche Stitch.
The Crossed Brioche Stitch is more of a deconstructed brioche stitch. In this technique, you create the usual brioche stitch, slip-1-yarn-over (sl1yo), as two separate stitches instead of as a single stitch. These stitches are treated as a single stitch on the following row. This makes the technique sound pretty intimidating, but it is really pretty easy once you've done a few rows. It's actually pretty magical because after about 2 inches everything starts to fall into place, the pattern pops and you realize that it really is starting to look the way that it's supposed to. So don't frog right away when it's looking weird at first. (I may have done this about 3 times before I realized that I was actually doing it correctly, lol.)
I really love that this is one of those patterns that you can just work through almost mindlessly once you have the repeats down. The sample took me one day to knit up while I was spending time with my little guy and watching a show with the hubby. Don't let the brioche scare you, once you see what you're doing it's really no more complex than a lace pattern. That being said, I maybe wouldn't recommend this as a first brioche pattern as the ability to read your knitting (and have faith that everything will work out) is super helpful.
(If you haven't tried brioche yet, I suggest checking out my Giant Color Shift Brioche Scarf as an introduction to the technique. You don't have to knit the entire scarf, just use the instructions (ignoring the measurements) to make a sample piece long enough to familiarize yourself with the techniques covered. This is the pattern that I use for the Beginning Brioche class that I teach and it covers most of the basic techniques.)
The construction of this cowl makes it very wearable and gives you lots of styling options (as you've probably noticed from the pictures). The cowl has a 3 button closure that utilizes crocheted loops to minimize bulk when you have it completely fastened. Here are my 3 favorite ways to wear this cowl:
1.) In the picture at the top of this post, I have all 3 buttons fastened and have the cowl rolled horizontally so that it is the most like a cowl.
2.) In the next 2 pictures I only have the top button fastened and am wearing it so that it hangs slightly off the shoulder. (This is my favorite way to wear it, it's so cozy!!)
3.) In this last picture, I have it un-buttoned with the ends tucked into my coat. I also folded the top of it a bit to resemble a shawl-collar. This provides lots of warmth and color without adding a ton of extra bulk to a winter coat.
This pattern release may seem a bit odd for this time of year as we're all starting to get ready for warm weather, but I live in the American Midwest and we had snow yesterday so it's never too late in the season for a good layering piece. I hope that you all have a wonderful week with lots of crafting time.
Happy knitting!
Shaina ^_^