Training Wheels is a simple but warm and squishy cowl. It is made entirely in two-color brioche stitch, so it is great for brioche beginners who want to practice, practice, practice their new skills. Because of the brioche, the cowl is reversible, where each side is the opposite of the other. Pick two colors that you love and wear it both ways!
Materials
● Two skeins, in contrasting colors, of one of the following worsted-weight yarns: - Shepherd's Wool Worsted (Stonehedge Fiber Mill, 100% merino, 250 yards/229 meters) - Vintage (Berroco, 52% acrylic, 40% wool, 8% nylon, 217 yards/198 meters) - Rios (Malabrigo, 100% superwash merino, 210 yards/192 meters) · 16" circular needles in size US 8/5 mm and US 10/6 mm, or size needed to obtain gauge ·Stitch marker · Tapestry needle for weaving in ends
Finished Dimensions
Circumference: 23"/58 cm Height: 12" /38 cm
Gauge
Horizontal: 3.5-4 stitches per inch Vertical: 4 stitches per inch Gauge is not critical for this project but will affect the final project dimensions and yardage required.
Abbreviations
k1 - knit p1 - purl brk - brioche knit (knit a stitch together with its brioche “"hat") brp - brioche purl (purl a stitch together with its brioche “hat") sllyo - slip one yarn over (bring yarn to front then slip the next stitch, creating a brioche “hat")
Instructions
Choose which of your colors will be Color A and Color B.
Cast On
Using the larger needle, cast on 96 stitches with Color A using the long tail cast on. Place marker at beginning of round.
Setup Round
A: Using Color A, join for working in the round, being careful not to twist your stitches! \*k1, sllyo\*, repeat between \*\* across round B: Join Color B, \*sllyo, brp\*, repeat between \*\* across round
Cowl Body
Switch to smaller needle Round A: Using Color A, \*brk, sllyo\*, repeat between \*\* across round Round B: Using Color B, \*sllyo, brp\*, repeat between \*\* across round Repeat A and B until the cowl measures 12” from the cast on edge or until you've reached your desired length. End with a Round B. See note below about how to change colors between rounds!
Final Round
Break Color B. Switch to larger needle. Using Color A and larger needle, \*brk, p1\*, repeat between \*\* across round
Bind Off
Using Color A, loosely bind off all stitches
Finishing
Weave in ends. Block gently by frst soaking the cowl in water for 15 minutes then laying it to dry on a nonporous surface. Reshape the wet cowl to the desired dimensions, but do not pin it down. We recommend wearing your cowl with the bind-off edge at the top to give it a little more structure!
Changing Colors between Rounds
Unlike in normal two-color knitting, you will not twist the yarn together when switching colors. At the end of a round, always drop the working yarn to the front of the work.
At the end of Round A, drop Color A to the front of the work and pick up Color B from underneath Color A without twisting the strands! Color A will be dropped to the right of Color B. At the end of Round B, you again drop the working yarn to the front of the work. Pick up Color A and bring it to the back of the work to work a brk into the first stitch of the next round. Color A will appear to wrap around the last stitch in the previous round!
