Michelle Snood in Berroco Mojo - Downloadable PDF

Michelle Snood: A Free Beginner Knitting Pattern in Berroco Mojo

The Berroco Michelle is a free, downloadable PDF knitting pattern designed by the Berroco Design Team that produces a cozy, oversized snood-style cowl. Worked in the round on a circular needle, this accessory is an ideal project for knitters who are just beginning to explore beyond basic knit-and-purl fabric, as it introduces a simple yet visually striking lace-like pattern stitch within an otherwise straightforward construction. The finished cowl measures approximately 34 inches around and 10 inches high, making it generously sized for wrapping around the neck or pulling up over the lower face for extra warmth.

What Is Being Made

This pattern produces a single circular cowl — sometimes called a snood — knitted seamlessly in the round from cast-on to bind-off. There are no seams to sew and no flat pieces to join, which keeps the finishing process minimal and beginner-friendly. The one-size construction means there is no need to navigate sizing adjustments or fit calculations, making it a relaxed and enjoyable knit from start to finish.

Materials Used

• Yarn: 1 hank of Berroco Mojo (100 grams per hank), shown in colorway #8004 Potion. Berroco Mojo is a super chunky weight yarn, which means it knits up quickly and produces a thick, substantial fabric perfectly suited to cold-weather accessories.
• Needles: A 29-inch circular knitting needle in US size 15 (10.00 mm), or the size needed to obtain gauge. The circular needle is essential here, as the cowl is worked entirely in the round.
• Notions: One stitch marker to indicate the beginning of each round.

Gauge

The pattern calls for a gauge of 7 stitches and 14 rounds over 4 inches in the pattern stitch. Because super chunky yarns can vary significantly between knitters, the pattern strongly recommends swatching and checking gauge before beginning. Even a small deviation per stitch can result in a noticeably different finished circumference at this scale.

Techniques Used

• Casting on and joining in the round without twisting stitches
• Knitting in the round on a circular needle
• Using a stitch marker to track the beginning of each round
• Purling a foundation round immediately after cast-on to create a neat edge
• Binding off purlwise for a finished, tidy top edge
• Repeating a four-row pattern sequence to build consistent fabric height

Stitches Used

The cowl is built around a four-round repeating pattern stitch that creates an elegant, textured lace-like effect using a combination of the following techniques:

• Yarn over (yo): Creates a deliberate eyelet or decorative hole in the fabric, adding an open, airy quality to the dense super chunky yarn.
• Slip 1, k2tog, psso: A classic double decrease — one stitch is slipped, the next two are knitted together, and then the slipped stitch is passed over. This reduces three stitches to one and creates a neat, centered decrease that balances the yarn overs on either side.
• Knit stitch (k): Used throughout both the pattern rounds and the plain knit rounds that alternate between the decorative rounds.
• Purl stitch (p): Used in the opening round and in the purlwise bind-off.

The pattern stitch alternates the placement of the yarn-over and double-decrease clusters across two decorative rounds — Round 1 and Round 3 — separated by plain knit rounds. This offset creates a flowing, diagonal or chevron-like visual rhythm across the fabric, giving the finished cowl a polished, designed appearance that belies its beginner-level difficulty.

Difficulty and Suitability

Rated Easy by