Shift

The Shift designed by Andrea Mowry, available to buy on Ravelry

I've wanted to make a Shift for ages. Designed by Andrea Mowry, the pattern was released in 2018 and is a cult classic. I've seen so many in the shop and at yarn festivals. With good reason!

As a pointy cowl, you get all the ease of wearing a cowl with the bulk of a triangle shawl. Just put over your head and plump it up. The pointy end fills the gap left by your jacket and shows off your work. BUT you don't have the flappy ends of a shawl to deal with.

You can even fold in the point for a traditional cowl loop.

It's not only easy to wear but it uses a simple technique called slip stitches or mosaic knitting. By slipping stitches you get two colours on a row WITHOUT doing stranded colourwork or intarsia. You are only working with one colour each row. It's an easy colourwork effect and it's even more impressive when you use a self striping yarn.

(We used it recently in our Route 66 poncho and we also used it in a jumper too)

Slip stitches and a self striping yarn are addictive and very motivating. Trust me, you'll be excited by the unpredictable colour changes and colour combos so you'll want to knit it more... which means you'll get it finished quicker.

I think I've just described a perfect project. 😃

I used our new Schoppel Wolle Edition 3 in shades 2598 (A) 2474 (B), 2298 (C). Shade A is the one closest to you face.

Edition 3 is a sportweight yarn - in between a 4ply and DK thickness. You might recognise the twisted colour effect from their 4ply sock yarn but Edition 3 is 100% merino and is super super soft. 

We have lots of shades in stock. I tried to pick 3 different shades that were from a similar colour family - green/blue. 2474 and 2298 have the pops of pink. 

I don't think you can go wrong as the each shade is used almost equally. And you can't predict how they will come together as each ball is wound from a different point in the colour sequence. So don't over think it! But if you like to plan check out the hundreds of projects on Ravelry.😆

I was worried that I would run of yarn. According to the pattern you need 182m per shade which is one 55g ball of the yarn used in the pattern . Edition 3 has 150m. But, I did have enough. 

If you're unfamiliar with slip stitches it is literally just moving stitches from the left needle to the right needle without working them. Pay attention to where the working yarn is. The pattern will tell you if the yarn should be at the back or the front. This is important as it gives you the little nuggets of colour. And keep your tension natural. Don't pull tightly as the fabric will pucker and it'll look a bit like a rib stitch.

Shift is knitted flat so you don't need to use a circular needle. It is sewn up the back to create a cowl.

The edges have a lovely slip stitch and i-cord finishing which keeps them very neat and polished.

I washed my Shift in Eucalan, squished out excess water and pinned it out to the pattern measurements. After it dried I sewed up the back using mattress stitch.

Andrea Mowry has created a range of patterns that uses the same slip stitch pattern.

Nightshift is an aran weight shawl

Shiftalong is a sportweight hat 

Shiftigan is a sportweight cardigan

Shifty is a sportweight jumper

You don't need to use a self striping yarn. Sabine made her Shift using Rowan Felted Tweed.

It's also a great way to use up small amounts of yarn. You can even mix up the thickness of yarn too.

You can buy a copy of the Shift on Ravelry or as a digital pattern in the shop

You can Schoppel Wolle Edition 3 here. I used shades 2598 (A) 2474 (B), 2298 (C).

You can buy circular needles here. The pattern specifies 3.75mm. They don't need to be circular as the cowl is knitted flat!