If I am not mistaken, mosaic knitting, created by Barbara G. Walker in the 1960s, is the only specifically recognizable American contribution to the body of knowledge in knitting. As a longtime fan of this technique, I have never worked mosaic knitting in “stacks,” or blocks, for which it is ideally suited. In this Mayan Mosaic Cowl (inspired by similar symbols from that exotic culture), I staggered three motifs to create the overall effect and framed each block with garter stitch rounds and vertical “dividers,” creating a truly overall mosaic effect.

This pattern, categorized as Complex, assumes the knitter has worked mosaic knitting before, so there are no specific instructions for how to work the mosaic technique. If this is your first attempt at mosaic knitting, it might be best to work a few swatches to become familiar with the technique. Note that when mosaic is worked circularly, the first stitch of every round on the chart indicates which color is the working color of that round and the first stitch to be worked is the first stitch inside the red “repeat” box. This pattern varies slightly from the standard mosaic technique by introducing “divider” stitches (see directions below). This cowl is worked in the round in garter stitch. Therefore, the first round of the chart is knitted (except for the divider stitches) and the second round is purled. On both rounds, when slipping stitches, the working yarn must be held to the back—or wrong side—of the work, and all the slipped stitches slipped purlwise.