A Mosaic Knitting Introduction

Looking for a little pop of color in your knitwear? The mosaic knit headband is your gal. I love winter headbands because my near-perpetual mom messy bun can be worn, and they knit up so quickly, making them perfect for markets and gifts. Since they don’t take as much yarn they can also be great stash busters!

If you have a few mini skeins of bulky weight yarn laying around, give the Poppi knit headband a try. Mosaic knitting is a new skill that’s pretty easy to pick up, and I think of it as cheating colorwork because you only have to use one color per row.

Shopping Links:

Knifty Little Thing Free Patterns
Ad-Free Pattern on Etsy

a bulky weight headband with pops of pink in a mosaic pattern lies against a rock.

Materials

Bulky Yarn (size 5) of your choice in two contrasting colors, approximately 70 grams total, or 60 yards of the main color and 10 yards of the contrasting color
US Size 10 (6mm) circular needles with 16″ cable
Tape measure
Tapestry needle
Scissors

Gauge

4 stitches (1 pattern repeat) = 1 inch

Size/Measurements

This pattern should fit teens and adults, but the circumference can be adjusted for the person wearing it. As written, the headband is approximately 20 in/45 cm around. The pattern can be made larger or smaller by increasing or decreasing by increments of 4 stitches.

Abbreviations

K – knit
P- purl
S(#)wyib – slip (#) of stitches with your yarn held in the back, ex: s3wyib means slip 3 stitches with yarn held to the back
MC – Main Color
CC – Contrasting Color

Pattern Notes

I tend to be a looser knitter, so tighter or English style knitters may want to go up a needle size
Each row will either be using the Main Color (MC) or the Contrasting Color (CC) .Drop the color you aren’t using behind your work and bring the new color up underneath to “lock” it in place. This video by Leisure Arts, Inc demonstrates the concept (it’s in the center of a row, but it’s the same concept) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7UfBXMWvhQ.
The body of the pattern is written in repeats of 4 stitches and 8 rows
The contrast color is added at the beginning of body row 2
Make sure that your floats in the contrasting color aren’t too tight – it would result in a tighter, puckered fabric and be uncomfortable to wear!

The Poppi Headband – Instructions

This knit headband pattern is a fun introduction to mosaic knitting, essentially it’s colorwork but using only one color at a time. Make sure to pick colors that are distinct enough that the contrast pops!

Cast On

With your MC, c/o 60 using whatever method you’d like. (I usually use the Long-Tail Cast On)

Brim

Rows 1-3: (MC) *K1, P1* repeat until end of row

Body

(MC) Knit all stitches
(MC) *s1wyib, k3* repeat until end of row
(MC) *s1wyib, k3* repeat until end of row
(CC) *k1, s3wyib* repeat from * to * until the end of the row
(CC) *p1, s3wyib* repeat from * to * until the end of the row
(MC) Knit all stitches in the row
(MC) k2, *s1wyib, k3* repeat from * to * until one stitch remains, k1
(MC) k2, *s1wyib, k3* repeat from * to * until one stitch remains, k1
(CC) s2wyib, *k1, s3wyib* repeat from * to * until one stitch remains, s1wyib
(CC) s2wyib, *p1, s3wyib* repeat from * to * until one stitch remains, s1wyib
Repeat Rows 1-10 once more. Cut CC and leave an 8in/20cm tail for weaving in ends
(MC) Knit all stitches

Top Brim

Rows 1-3: (MC) *K1, P1* repeat until end of row
Cast off, leaving an 8in/20cm tail to weave in the ends

Finishing

Weave in both ends and lightly stretch to help everything settle. If you need to, you can block or LIGHTLY steam your headband to even everything up. Add a tag if you desire!