Checked Snood – free knitting pattern

This post is brought to you by Berroco, which also provided yarn support for this design. Thank you so much for keeping all of our Hands Occupied!

Knit yourself a quick cowl that doubles as a hood - a snood! The Checked Snood is a colorful, geometric knitting pattern that uses 3 colors of Berroco Brielle to create a stunning, versatile accessory you'll wear from fall to spring. Bonus: it's a free pattern!

The garment that I find myself getting most use out of every year is almost always a cowl. You can wear a cowl starting in early fall, and ride it all the way through to late spring. When I got my hands on Berroco’s new yarns for this season, I knew I wanted to use Brielle to create something I could get a TON of everyday use out of. So I thought to myself, “what’s the function I’m always wishing for in a neck accessory, from a practical perspective?” And the answer was a hood! I wanted to design a geometric, easy-to-knit cowl that could double as a hood, so I’d always have it on hand for blustery, urban winters here in Chicago. It’s easy to find a lot of cowls that are just the wrong size or weight to easily be worn on the head (and stay up on their own). The Checked Snood is a combination of the right weight, fiber, and size to pull double duty all knitwear-season long!

Get an inexpensive, printable, ad-free PDF of this pattern here.

A little about the logic behind the Checked Snood’s design

As you might know, I’ve fallen completely in love with knitting intarsia, so I thought doing a free pattern that is accessible for first-time intarsia knitters was in order. With large, square blocks of three different colors and a few simple lines to create a seamless repeat all around, this cowl can be done up in so many interesting color combinations to help match your entire winter wardrobe. Not only that, the Checked Snood also makes the most of a neat, chain edge that’s intended to curl in to give this relatively simple construction an infinity-like edge around the face and neck.

It started to get really cold during this shoot, & my pink nose here is proof! 😉

Checked Snood – knitting pattern

Get an inexpensive, printable, ad-free PDF of this pattern here.

Skill level: intermediate

Supplies
1 skein each of Berroco Brielle yarn in Blond (Clr A), Rouille (Clr B) & Bleu (Clr C)
US 7 (4.5 mm) knitting needles, straight or circular
2 stitch markers
scrap yarn for provisional cast on (optional, depending on technique used)
tapestry needle for grafting and weaving in ends

Abbreviations & Terms
WS – wrong side
CO – cast on
sts -stitches
Clr – color (see supplies list above for colors used and their corresponding Clr abbreviations)
RS – right side
sl1 wyif – slip one stitch purlwise with yarn in front
pm – place marker
k – knit
p – purl
rep – repeat
BO – bind off

Notes: This snood is knit using a method of colorwork called intarsia, which involves knitting part of a given row of knitting using multiple balls of yarn, but without carrying your yarn at the back of your work (a.k.a. fair isle or stranded knitting). If you are new to knitting intarsia, I would recommend checking out my Intarsia 101 tutorial, including easy-to-follow instructions. I would also direct new intarsia knitters to the following tutorials: how to estimate & manage yarn tails in intarsia, how to knit intarsia without bobbins, & how to weave in intarsia ends.

A provisional cast on is used, please see this post for more about provisional cast ons, and watch this video tutorial for my favorite way to do a provisional cast on. Ends are joined using kitchener stitch (a.k.a. grafting); please see this tutorial for how to work a kitchener stitch.

Gauge & Dimensions: 16 stitches x 20 rows = 4 inches (10 cm) in stockinette stitch with measurements taken after wet blocking. Finished snood measures approx. 18 inches tall and 26.5 inches in circumference after wet blocking.

The Pattern

Setup
row 1. (WS) Provisional CO 64 sts in Clr A.
2. (RS) sl1 wyif A, k1A, pm, k20A, k20B, k20C, pm, k2C.
3. sl1 wyif C, k1C, sm, p20C, p20B, p20A, sm, k2A.
4-21. Rep rows 2-3.
22. (RS) sl1 wyif A, k1A, sm, p60A, sm, k2A. Break all 3 yarns, leaving a 4-6 inch tail.

Section 1
23. (WS) sl1 wyif A, k1B, sm, p60B, sm, k2B.
24. (RS) sl1 wyif B, k1B, sm, k20B, k20C, k20A, sm, k2A.
25. sl1 wyif A, k1A, sm, p20A, p20C, p20B, sm, k2B.
26-43. Rep rows 24-25.
44. (RS) sl1 wyif B, k1B, sm, p60B, sm, k2B. Break all 3 yarns, leaving a 4-6 inch tail.

Section 2
45. (WS) sl1 wyif B, k1C, sm, p60C, sm, k2C.
46. (RS) sl1 wyif C, k1C, sm, k20C, k20A, k20B, sm, k2B.
47. sl1 wyif B, k1B, sm, p20B, p20A, p20C, sm, k2C.
48-65. Rep rows 24-25.
66. (RS) sl1 wyif C, k1C, sm, p60C, sm, k2C. Break all 3 yarns, leaving a 4-6 inch tail.

Section 3
67. (WS) sl1 wyif C, k1A, sm, p60A, sm, k2A.
68. (RS) sl1 wyif A, k1A, pm, k20A, k20B, k20C, pm, k2C.
69. sl1 wyif C, k1C, sm, p20C, p20B, p20A, sm, k2A.
70-87. Rep rows 2-3.
88. (RS) sl1 wyif A, k1A, sm, p60A, sm, k2A. Break all 3 yarns, leaving a 4-6 inch tail.

Repeat sections 1-2 one more time.

Finishing
BO all sts using a kitchener stitch and Clr A. Weave in all ends and wet block to finish.