I have finally finished my Shift Cowl, designed by Andrea Mowry!
I loved this project, and it’s actually my second finished object from the “Shift” family of designs. My first was the Nightshift Shawl, so apparently I’m slowly working my way through them.
The Shift Cowl was such an enjoyable knit. The pattern has a really nice rhythm to it, while still giving you enough variation to keep things interesting.
One of the main techniques used is mosaic knitting, which uses a combination of knit and slipped stitches to create colorwork. If you’re intimidated by traditional stranded colorwork, mosaic knitting can be a really fun technique to try because you’re able to create some pretty impressive-looking results without actually working multiple colors across the row at the same time.
And the color possibilities with this pattern are pretty much endless.
That was probably my favorite part of this project. I used several different colors and textures of recycled silk yarn from Darn Good Yarn (use code MOLLYMS15 for 15% off your purchase), so I really didn’t know exactly what the finished cowl was going to look like until it was done.
There’s something fun about that.
The cowl itself is knit asymmetrically and then seamed together at the end. Between the texture, stripes, slipped stitches and constantly changing colors, there is a LOT visually happening in the finished piece- which makes it look much more complicated than the actual knitting felt.
Find the Shift Cowl pattern here
The Yarn I Used
I was gifted a selection of yarn from Darn Good Yarn as part of a collaboration, and before this partnership I had never worked with their yarn.
The box they sent included several colors, textures and yarn weights, and I decided to use that variety rather than trying to make everything perfectly match.
That became part of the experiment for me. Could I take all of these different recycled silk yarns and colors and make them work together in one project?
I think the Shift Cowl ended up being a great pattern for doing exactly that. The mosaic knitting already encourages color changes, so every new yarn became another part of the overall look rather than something that needed to match perfectly.
If I were knitting another one, though, I would probably choose yarns that are all relatively close in weight. I was able to measure, adjust and get the result I wanted with the assortment I had, but using the same weight throughout would definitely make the process simpler-especially if this is your first time knitting the pattern!
Shop Darn Good Yarn here and use code MOLLYMS15 for 15% off your purchase!
A Little More About Darn Good Yarn
One of the things I found interesting after working with these yarns was learning more about where they actually come from.
Darn Good Yarn is a woman- and veteran-owned small business that has been around since 2008. The company works with artisans in India and Nepal and focuses on creating fair, safe and sustainable employment while incorporating reclaimed and recycled materials into many of its products.
Recycled sari silk is a big part of what they're known for. Instead of usable textile material becoming waste, sari fabrics and remnants can be reclaimed and turned into yarn, ribbon and other handmade goods.
According to Darn Good Yarn, the company and its customers have helped repurpose more than 2 million pounds of material waste over the years.
I think knowing some of that background made using these yarns even more interesting. Recycled silk doesn't necessarily behave like a perfectly uniform skein of commercially produced wool & that's part of its character.
The colors can be bold. The textures can vary. Some of the yarns have sparkle, different fibers or little changes throughout the skein. For a project like the Shift Cowl, I actually really liked that.
This isn't a pattern where I wanted every section to look exactly the same. The changes in color and texture became part of the finished piece.
Darn Good Yarn also carries more than recycled silk. Their current yarn selection includes wool, cotton, banana fiber, hemp, nettle and other fibers, along with yarn sourced through their artisan partnerships in India and Nepal.
Why I Liked This Combination
I talk a lot about knitting as a tool for slowing down and spending our attention differently, and this project was a good example of that for me.
There was enough repetition to settle into the knitting, but enough color and variation that I still wanted to see what happened next.
If you've been wanting to try mosaic knitting-or you have some colorful yarn in your stash that you aren't quite sure how to put together-the Shift Cowl could be a really fun project to consider.
Disclosure
The Darn Good Yarn products featured in this post were gifted to me as part of a collaboration with Darn Good Yarn. This post also contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you make a purchase through one of my links, at no additional cost to you. As always, I only share products and projects that I genuinely enjoy and think may be useful or interesting to the Knitting Wellness community.