There will always be a soft spot in my nostalgic heart for Jem & The Holograms. She was a punk rock singer with killer hair and makeup in signature hot-pink colors. I dressed up as her for Halloween as a kid and have finally found a way to channel her into knitwear. This cowl is perfect for maximizing the usage of mini skeins (especially the wild, bright and variegated ones that might be waiting in your stash). It can certainly be knit in just 2 colors but it’s so much fun to play with the rainbow!

Finished Measurements
Approx. 7.5” (19 cm) tall and either 25” (63 cm) long (shorter version) or 50” (125 cm) long (longer version), before ends are attached.

Needles
Size 2 (2.75 mm) 16” (40 cm) circular needles.

Gauge
25 sts and 29 rnds = 4” (10cm) in charted Brioche rib. Each chart repeat is about 6.25” (15.5 cm) long.
Note: One Brioche rnd consists of both a MC & a CC rnd, counted together.
Adjust needle size if necessary to obtain the correct gauge.

Yarn
Leading Men Showstopper mini skeins (75% Superwash Merino & 25% Nylon; 92 yd 84 m/1 oz 20 g)
Longer version: approx 552 yds (504 m) of MC and 644 yds 589 m of CC.
Shorter version: approx 276 yds (252 m) of MC and 322 yds (294 m) of CC.

Notions
Markers (m), Size F crochet hook, fingering weight waste yarn for provisional CO, spare circular needle of similar size for 3-needle bind-off, and yarn needle.

Notes

• This pattern is started with a provisional CO and worked seamlessly in the rnd. After desired number of chart reps have been worked, a 3-needle BO is used to connect the two ends.
• MC is used for the foreground, brioche knit sts and CC is used for the background, brioche purl sts.
• The slanted MC line is not continuous across the repeats.
• The sample cowl uses 6 mini skeins for the MC and 7 mini skeins for the CC. Once you’ve determined the sequence of colors you want to use for the MC & CC simply work each color until it runs out and then attach the next color and continue. The tied ends will remain on the inside of the work. As long as they are knotted well, they don’t need to be woven in.
• This design can easily be knit in only 2 colors (MC & CC), if desired.

Colors used in Sample (in order):
MC: Pop the Cork, Rubber Ducky, Rumplestiltskin, Punk Rock Highlights, Prom Queen, My Lipgloss Be Poppin’
CC: Rumor Has It, Poison Ivy, Red-Handed, Ron Burgundy, Rust Bucket, Popeye’s Delight, Blue Steel