Kate Davies – Brèid Kerchief Knitting Kit
Designed by Kate Davies – KDD & Co
Brèid is Scottish Gaelic for a kerchief, and that is what this is: a triangle of two-shade colourwork, edged in garter stitch and i-cord, with ties so it can be worn at the neck or over the head. The same flower lattice runs through it as through Another Song.
It is knitted from the long edge down to the tip, in the round with a steek so the colourwork is always worked on the right side. Stitches decrease evenly along both sides of the triangle, so the rounds get shorter as you go. Once the last stitch is bound off, the steek is secured and cut, and the edging is picked up along the decrease line and finished with an i-cord bind off. The ties are worked as plain i-cord and bound into the top edge.
If you have been meaning to try steeking, this is a good place to start. There is no fit to get wrong, and you will have cut your first steek and picked up along it long before you commit to a garment.
We have kitted this in Jamieson & Smith 2 Ply Jumper Weight, the classic Shetland jumper weight and our choice for this design in place of the yarns named in the pattern. Shetland wool blocks into exactly the crisp edges this piece wants, and it holds a cut steek without complaint.
Choosing your palette
Seven palettes, each a ground shade and a motif shade. Each kit has two balls of A and one of B.
- Shetland Palette 1 · A Light Fawn 202 · B Dark Navy 36
- Shetland Palette 2 · A Natural White 1A · B Dark Navy 36
- Shetland Palette 3 · A Light Fawn 202 · B Purpley Blue 131
- Shetland Palette 4 · A Natural White 1A · B Bright Pink Mix FC22
- Shetland Palette 5 · A Light Grey 203 · B Dark Fuchsia 43
- Shetland Palette 6 · A Light Fawn 202 · B Dark Green 82
- Shetland Palette 7 · A Light Fawn 202 · B Dark Brown 5
These are the same seven palettes we have used for the Another Song vest, so the two can be knitted as a pair.
We have matched Kate's palette as closely as the Jamieson & Smith range allows, but these are not the shades she used and the yarns are different, so your kerchief will not look identical to the photographs of the original.
Skill Level: Advanced ★★★★ (4 out of 5). The rating is for the techniques rather than the size of the piece: everything here is straightforward to work, but the steek, the picked-up edging and the i-cord bind off all want care.
Size: One size. 56.5cm / 22¼in wide without the ties, and 26cm / 10¼in deep including the edging.
Gauge: 30 sts x 36 rounds to 10cm (4"). Kate gives 3mm as the starting point for swatching
The Kit Includes
- 3 balls of Jamieson & Smith 2 Ply Jumper Weight: two of shade A, one of shade B
- Printed pattern in English, with a code to download the digital version
You'll Also Need
- Gauge-size circular needle, 40cm long
- Gauge-size needles of your preferred type for working small circumferences, for the last rounds of the chart
- Sewing needle and thread for securing the steek edges
- Wool needle
- Ribbon, if you want to face the steek
Techniques used
- Two-shade stranded colourwork in the round, worked from a chart
- An inserted steek, secured by the needle-felted method and cut
- k2tog, ssk and centred double decreases, worked in pattern
- Picking up stitches along the cut decrease line
- Garter stitch edging finished with a two-stitch i-cord bind off
- Plain i-cord ties, bound into the top edging
Kate's steek notes point to Gretchen Funk's felted method, which is on the Modern Daily Knitting site.
Why You'll Love It
- A good first steeking project, with no fit to get wrong
- Real Shetland wool from Jamieson & Smith in Lerwick
- Seven palettes, each chosen as a pair
- Worn at the neck or over the head, with ties either way
- The same lattice as the Another Song vest, in the same palettes