Counterchange

Counterchange is a term for a pattern whereby the colours of the motif and its ground are reversed in another part of the design to balance the elements. The Tiles pattern used here is from the Barbara G Walker book, Mosaic Knitting, published in 1997.

Although it may look complex, this pattern is simple to work. It starts with a white motif on a blue background. As the centre of the shawl approaches, the pattern changes to a Parquet pattern and then to a simple stripe. The stripes down the centre back enable the change in the colour focus and the following Parquet and Tiles patterns have their colours reversed with a blue motif on a white background.