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My Grandpa Giannattasio lived in the northwest corner of Connecticut in the US. He bought a run-down house on an acre of land that also included an old cow barn.

It was a 2-story barn with a loft and was built on top of 6 feet of concrete. The 1st floor had concrete walls. The rest of the barn and roof were held up with wooden telephone poles. No kidding, someone constructed this thing with old telephone poles. That barn was built to last. One thing I remember most about it was the corrugated green siding. I think it’s the only green barn I’ve ever seen.

Grandpa stuffed that barn with the treasures he found at his job as a garbage man. There was a huge cardboard baler, tires, barrels of all sorts, wooden columns, rusted metal equipment, windows, tables, toys, old tools, baskets full of 78 records, and more.

Thirty years ago, my father was as digging up the area just behind the barn. He had no idea what was buried there until he unearthed large metal tanks. He noticed that the strange spigot coming out of the back of the barn was still connected to the tanks. That spigot had had nothing to do with cows and neither did those tanks. He quickly reburied the tanks. It seems that this old barn was used to make and store booze during the American prohibition!

The colors and textures of this cowl remind me of my grandpa’s barn with it’s corrugated green siding, rusting metals, and its notorious history.

This pattern is for an adventurous beginner or intermediate knitter that wants to try brioche for the first time or give it another try. This cowl will help you learn brioche in a gentle and easy way; a little at a time yet has that brioche wow factor you’ve been craving.

CONSTRUCTION: Grandpa’s Barn Cowl is a reversible unisex accessory that is worked from the bottom up and in the round. It starts with 2 x 2 ribbing and progresses into a two-color garter stitch border followed by alternating sections of garter stitch and brioche ribbing. A few rounds of garter stitch are then worked around the entire cowl. The final section of garter st and Brioche ribbing is offset from the first for visual interest. The cowl ends with one last border of garter stitch that’s finished with one color 2 x 2 ribbing.

Only one yarn color is worked at a time and is extremely easy to master. The suggested color change method results in a cowl that is reversible with no visible lines or color jogs.

The cowl is customizable with two sizes available. Pattern includes suggestions for modifications to make cowl taller or wider. Any modifications to the cowl will require additional yarn.

Charts (optional) and a schematic are included. A page of clearly written and tested Special Techniques to help you with the cast on, bind off and everything in between.

Resources for videos of brioche, fixing dropped brioche sts, and swatching in the round.

SIZES: 9.5 x 20 (9.5 x 24)”; 24 x 51 (24 x 61) cm after blocking. Male model is wearing (9.5 x 24)” / (24 x 61) cm.

SKILLS NEEDED: Kfb, slipping stitches, brioche sts (video link included). Instructions provided for the following: stretchy long tail cast on, two-end long tail cast on, swatching in the round (video link included), and color changing.

YARDAGE:
One color: 199 - 245 (239 - 293) yds / 182 - 224 (219 - 268)m.
Two Color: MC 119 - 147(144 - 176) yds / 109 - 134 (132 - 161) m; CC 80 - 98 (96 - 118) yds / 73 - 90 (88 -108) m.

YARN SUBSTITUTION: Although any DK weight can be used, indie dyed yarns tend to be heavier than commercial weight yarns. Tonal, solid, speckled, and variegated yarns (for CC) work best. Swatch for gauge to be sure you’ll get the size and drape you want.

NEEDLES: US #5 (4mm) is recommended or size to obtain Gauge. 16” (41 cm) circular needle.

This pattern was tech edited by handknitsandhygge;
and test knit by these wonderful knitters: BCN, tracyf, flemisa, Just1MoreThing, martiniiis, elnor8, arastal, and sarahmontie :heart: