Winding Columns: a mosaic knitting stitch pattern

Sometimes I come across a motif I want to play with from a larger design. The repeating shape in this one is from a mosaic chart that didn’t work out for other reasons, but I wanted to see what I could make of it. Here’s one result. This is not one of my secret code patterns.

A nice thing about mosaic knitting is that the charts are similar to the final appearance of the knitting, so I’m not going to provide a swatch. Mosaic knitting looks difficult, but it’s not as hard as it looks! Basically, knit two-row stripes, and slip stitches from the row below to make the contrasting pattern.

Here’s a detailed blog post I wrote about how it works.

This is a Barbara-Walker-style mosaic chart. Each row of squares in it represents two rows of knitting (which is why there’s a row number at each end). The square in the column to the right of the row numbers indicates the color of yarn being worked in that line. So in rows 1 & 2, all black squares are knit or purled, and all white squares are slipped with the yarn being held on the wrong side of the work. In rows 3 & 4, all white squares are knit or purled and all black squares are slipped.

how the Winding Columns mosaic pattern might look as an allover pattern
chart showing how to work Winding columns mosaic by means of dark and light squares. There are written instructions in the blog post as well.
Click chart to enlarge

Notes:

  • This is a stitch pattern such as might be found in a stitch dictionary. This is not a pattern for a finished object.
  • Winding Columns is a multiple of 8 stitches and 8 + 14 rows.
  • The first 8 rows are a setup section, followed by 8 rows that are repeated as needed, and then 6 rows that finish off the design to match the setup section.
  • The non-slipped stitches in the second row of each stripe may be either knit or purled, as desired.
  • Designers, please feel free to use this in your patterns. I’d like credit but won’t be offended if people don’t give it.
  • My blog posts and free stitch patterns are supported by subscriptions on Patreon or donations to my Paypal tip jar in the sidebar. If you appreciate my work, please consider helping out. Thanks!

Abbreviations:

  • k: knit.
  • p: purl.
  • sl 1: Slip 1 stitch purlwise with yarn in back.
  • sl 1 wyif: Slip 1 stitch purlwise with yarn in front.

Setup Section:

Start with color B.

Rows 1 & 2 (RS): knit.

Switch to color A.

Row 3: *sl 1, k6, sl 1; work from *.

Row 4: *sl 1 wyif, k6, sl 1 wyif ; work from *.

Switch to color B.

Row 5: *k1, sl 1, k6; work from *.

Row 6: *k6, sl 1 wyif, k1 ; work from *.

Switch to color A.

Row 7: *sl 1, k3, sl 1, k2, sl 1; work from *.

Row 8: *sl 1 wyif, k2, sl 1 wyif, k3, sl 1 wyif ; work from *.

Do not repeat the setup section.

Main mosaic pattern:

Switch to color B.

Row 9: *k6, sl 1, k1; work from *.

Row 10: *k1, sl 1 wyif, k6 ; work from *.

Switch to color A.

Row 11: *sl 1, k2, sl 1, k3, sl 1; work from *.

Row 12: *sl 1 wyif, k3, sl 1 wyif, k2, sl 1 wyif ; work from *.

Switch to color B.

Row 13: *k1, sl 1, k6; work from *.

Row 14: *k6, sl 1 wyif, k1 ; work from *.

Switch to color A.

Row 15: *sl 1, k3, sl 1, k2, sl 1; work from *.

Row 16: *sl 1 wyif, k2, sl 1 wyif, k3, sl 1 wyif ; work from *.

repeat rows 9-16 as desired. When done with the main mosaic pattern, finish with the final section below.

Final section:

Switch to color B.

Row 17: *k6, sl 1, k1; work from *.

Row 18: *k1, sl 1 wyif, k6 ; work from *.

Switch to color A.

Row 19: *sl 1, k6, sl 1; work from *.

Row 20: *sl 1 wyif, k6, sl 1 wyif ; work from *.

Switch to color B.

Rows 21 & 22 (RS): knit.