Two new patterns for the Seven Skeins club

Today I’ve released a pair of patterns for Seven Skeins Club members – both rather different from each other.

Kokkeluri is above, and Cochal is below.

Cochal is a Scottish Gaelic word for hood, and this simple to knit accessory can easily be pulled up, hood-like, to keep the cold off your neck and ears when you are out in the hills. Cochal’s straightforward design and dimensions are loosely based on the (usually synthetic) ‘buffs’ often used by hikers, runners, and other outdoor folk. The striking slipped-stitch pattern is very simple indeed. It can be worked by any beginner knitter – someone with no colourwork experience at all. Mel and I knit several, in a few different colour schemes – which yielded quite different effects!

Cochal is a simple and flexible design, which can be adjusted in length – yarn quantities permitting! If you wish to make the most of your skeins, the pattern includes instructions on how to weigh your yarn so you can estimate with some accuracy how many of the pattern ‘cells’ you will be able to complete. Make your cochal shorter, or longer, just as you wish!

Cochal is a fun and speedy and fun knit, with a dramatic result that belies its simplicity.

Its also brilliant for keeping the autumn wind out of your ears!

Cochal is worked at 20 stitches to 4 inches – a gauge which allows Buachaille to drape and stretch, but also produces a squooshy, cooshy fabric. At the other end of the gauge spectrum is this week’s second design – Kokkeluri – which is worked at 30 stitches to 4 inches. At this gauge, Buachaille produces a dense, robust fabric which is ideally suited to mittens.

Kokkeluri, or muckle (big) kokkeluri are Shetland dialect terms for the ox-eye daisy – a familiar wayside sight all over Scotland in Spring and Summer. On the mainland, the word is sometimes rendered differently – cockaloorie – and is a generic term for any big, blousy flower.

While the hand-side is decorative, the palm-side is functional. The densely stranded herringbone pattern is hard-wearing and super-cosy, meaning the mittens are sure to keep your hands warm as the winter temperatures fall.

Kokkeluri features a few different techniques, including i-cord and vikkel braids – all of which are described in the pattern.

These mittens are one of my very favourite things I’ve knitted so far with Buachaille, and I’m already looking forward to the cooler temperatures in which they will come into their own!

These patterns are rather different from each other, and I paired them up this week for a number of reasons. One is reasonably advanced, while the other is super-simple, meaning that all club knitters, whatever their experience, can participate in making this week’s designs. Another reason for pairing them is that both are relatively yarn-hungry, and are likely to consume the majority of two skeins. If you are a member of the club, I recommend you choose one of these patterns to knit now, and save the other till later. If any of the designs which appear in subsequent weeks don’t suit your taste, you can always make your second choice, yarn permitting. I think Cochal would look particularly nice with multiple shades used for the cells, and am really looking forward to seeing what everyone does with these patterns!

If you are a club member you should by now have received your weekly email, and to access your patterns, simply click the ‘update’ button that appears next to the Buachaille e-book in your Ravelry library.

Pop over to the Ravelry group to share your progress, and don’t forget to use the hashtags #Sevenskeinsclub and #Buachaille to show us your projects.

Happy knitting, everyone xx