Martina Behm is one of my favorite knitting designers. I have knit MANY of her patterns. They are typically easy to knit and have some sort of stunning detail to them that is a tiny bit challenging.

For example, there is Miss Winkle:

EASY garter stitch, but then it has this looped edging detail which was a little challenging for the first loop, then a piece of cake for the remaining 80,000.

And then there is Langfield:

A very comfy hat that makes the most of self-striping or gradient yarn by the way it is constructed. Again, lots of easy garter stitch but then a twist in how the hat is shaped. It’s not your usual in-the-round hat.

Recently, I was pointed toward her new pattern Quadra Cowl by my knitting friend (aka The Pattern Enabler) Lisa who knows I love Martina. And it doesn’t disappoint in the easy-with-a-challenging-twist department.

Starting with the center of a square, it’s just the knit stitch with increases….

(Yes, I know it looks like a circle and not a square, but if you click on the pattern link, you’ll see the square.)

Keep going with the knitting/increasing until you have used almost half your yarn….

I’m using my hand-dandy-trusty Smart Weigh Digital Pro Pocket Scale , which I LOVE! It’s the best knitting tool. (Click on that link if you’d like to get one on Amazon.) I have three balls that are 50g each, so I stopped after using almost 25g of the second ball.

Then it was time for the preparation round. Look at this!:

Now it looks more like a square…

To “prepare” you place three circular needles where Martina tells you to (yes, you just have to trust her). Next is the “change round” and that is the challenging part of this pattern. There will be all kinds of crazy knitting-off-that-opposite-needle-then-knitting-off-some-other-needle shenanigans. That’s where I’m at now, so you’ll have to wait until the next post to see what happens! I have absolutely no concept of how it is supposed to go or what it will look like when I get there, despite reading the pattern and watching her video. But, knowing me, once I jump in and actually start knitting per the instructions, it will go fine. I know that Martina knows what she’s doing so I will blindly follow. Stay tuned….

Meanwhile, here are some Moose-sitting-forwards-Moose-sitting-backwards in the car pictures, just because.

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I just found it hilarious to look back there and see him sitting backwards.