Both Sides Now shawl | PDXKnitterati

I started designing Both Sides Now last winter, even before the Knit Picks call for submissions for a brioche collection.

This was from January 2019. I knew I wanted brioche, and a half-pi shawl.

February 2019: I played around with some stitch patterns. The little round leaf pattern didn’t thrill me, and I cogitated for days on how to make that twig pattern bend to my will. Once I figured it out, I contacted Knit Picks to see if they had more of these colors. Nope, discontinued. But they sent me some glorious blues to play with.

I was playing with this at Crafty Moms weekend in March last year.

There was definitely some trial and error and learning curve involved. And then there was a call for submissions for a brioche collection. Perfect! I was halfway there already!

When I blocked and photographed the shawl, I discovered that there really was no wrong side. Both sides looked great. Voilà, Both Sides Now.

I found it fascinating that the twigs on RS and WS faced opposite directions, down and up. And when you look at it closely, the lower sections look like light veined leaves between dark outlines on the RS (left half), but they don’t look that way on the upper section of the WS. Clearly, it’s not an exact reversal of color and texture.

Usually KnitPicks writes their patterns for MC and CC, but I requested that we use DC and LC designations (dark color and light color) because I wanted to make sure those lower veined leaves were reproducible. They’re especially nice if the yarn colors are very tonally contrasty.

After I finished the blue shawl, I went back and finished the purple version as a shawlette to see how far the yarn would go. I used almost every last bit of yarn, one skein of each color.

The leaves show up really well here, too. Instructions for both sizes, shawlette and shawl, are in the pattern.

Here’s the Knit Picks sample, same side as the purple above. In the top section, the light colored twigs point downwards. With less tonal contrast in the greens, the leaf veins in the lower section don’t pop as much as they do in the blue and purple versions. Still very pretty, just different.

This was a lot of knitting that I couldn’t show you last year! Now all has been revealed.

For a chance to win the YO: Brioche Knits ebook, visit the first Both Sides Now blog post and leave a comment there. I’m drawing a name at the end of the weekend. Good luck!

Have I set an earworm for you? Joni Mitchell or Judy Collins? Read to the bottom for a giveaway opportunity!

My Both Sides Now shawl pattern is on the cover of the new book, Yarn Over: Brioche Knits from Knit Picks! I’m really pleased.

Both Sides Now is a brioche half pi shawl. Both the “right side” and “wrong side” look good. The cover photo is what I think of as the wrong side. The second photo above is what I consider the right side.

My blue version has contrastier colors, so the lower section really pops, and looks like veined leaves. On this side, my right side, the twigs point downward.

But the back side of it is pretty awesome, too. The twigs point upwards on this side, just like on the book cover. The upper section doesn’t show as leaves quite as much, though. I love that you can wear it either way, according to your mood.

Oh! I have TWO patterns in this book; the other is my Window Pane Scarf. It was my first foray into syncopated brioche; I was going to use it as a teaching piece but then I had the opportunity to use it here. So I designed Hopscotch for my teaching piece, and Syncopation after that.

But I love this, too, and it would be a great learning piece for syncopated brioche!

The Yarn Over: Brioche Knits ebook has simple and complex projects in a variety of yarn weights. There’s something for everyone, from beginner to expert.

To celebrate these new designs, I’m giving away two copies of the Yarn Over: Brioche Knits ebook. One will go to a commenter on this post, and the other will go to a PDXKnitterati newsletter subscriber. I’ll be drawing a name on or around January 12. Good luck!