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Ainur Berkimbay For Purl Soho: Skating Rink Collection
The Skating Rink Collection by the ever-inventive Ainur Berkimbay captures the charm of vintage winter fun, its stripes circling like skaters gliding around the ice. Knit in our classic 100% merino wool Knitting Yarn DK, these timeless accessories are warm, soft, and ready for your next loop around the rink!
As with her beloved Carousel Collection, Ainur began the Skating Rink Collection with a “main hero” technique at the heart of the design. In this case, color-shifting slip stitch columns take center stage, standing in high relief against a two-color garter stitch background. These striping color pairs act as “supporting characters” and keep you happily skating along to the next color change!
Three patterns in one, the Skating Rink Collection includes a hat, a tapered cowl, and a pair of fingerless mitts… Everything you need to stay nice and toasty on the ice while leaving your fingers free to lace up your skates! Each accessory has sizes for kids through adults, with additional toddler sizes for the hat and mitts.
Our soft and sproingy Knitting Yarn DK is the perfect yarn choice for an accessory collection you’ll love to wear from first frost through last thaw. Made with 100% merino wool, this 4-ply DK-weight yarn knits up into a smooth fabric with lovely stitch definition, pleasant toothiness, and a cushiony feel.
You can pick any four colors from Knitting Yarn DK’s huge palette, but we recommend choosing two lighter and two darker colors with enough contrast to make your stripes pop. On the lighter side, we used Heirloom White and Blue Willow and, on the darker side, Spring Sky and Blue Topaz… A cool palette of crystal frost and frozen ponds.
Choose your favorite colors of Knitting Yarn DK, pick up Ainur’s three-accessory knitting pattern, and cast on for this super engaging and joyful knit… The beautiful Skating Rink Collection!
Yarn lovers, if you adore the yarn used in this project, you’ll love exploring all of our other yarn collections! Discover over 45 thoughtfully designed yarns in nearly every natural fiber and in every spectacular color you can imagine. Only available here at Purl Soho’s online yarn store, where every skein is created with care and your creativity in mind!
Pattern designed and written by Ainur Berkimbay for Purl Soho. Ainur sees the unique constraints of knitting as opportunities rather than limitations. Using her remarkable ingenuity and love of geometry, she designs beautiful and adventurous pieces for knitters who share her enthusiasm for shape, texture, and adventure. See more from Ainur on her website!
Story written by Andrea Lotz for Purl Soho.
Materials
4 balls of Purl Soho’s Knitting Yarn DK, 100% merino wool yarn. Each skein of this light worsted/DK-weight yarn is 219 yards/ 100 grams. Approximately 525 (615, 770, 810) total yards required. We used Blue Willow for Color A, Blue Topaz for Color B, Heirloom White for Color C, and Spring Sky for Color D.
COWL
- Color A: 80 (100) yards required
- Color B: 75 (95) yards required
- Color C: 65 (85) yards required
- Color D: 40 (50) yards required
HAT
- Color A: 45 (60, 70, 75) yards required
- Color B: 35 (45, 55, 60) yards required
- Color C: 50 (65, 75, 80) yards required
- Color D: 45 (55, 65, 70) yards required
HAND WARMERS
- Color A: 25 (20, 25, 30) yards required
- Color B: 25 (45, 50, 55) yards required
- Color C: 20 (40, 50, 55) yards required
- Color D: 20 (25, 50, 55) yards required
You will also need…
- US 5 (3.75 mm), 16-inch circular knitting needles, for Cowl and Hat
- A set of US 5 double pointed needles, for Hat and Hand Warmers
- Stitch markers, including one unique
- A few yards of smooth scrap yarn
- A Skating Rink Collection Pattern
NOTE: If you want to use Magic Loop, you won’t need the 16-inch circular or double pointed needles listed above… Just pick up a set of 32-inch circular knitting needles instead!
GAUGE
20 stitches and 44 rounds (22 ridges) = 4 inches in Garter Stitch In The Round
23 stitches and 46 rounds (23 ridges) = 4 inches in Two-Color Slip Stitch pattern
SIZES
COWL
Kid (Adult)
- Bottom Edge Circumference: 24¾ (29½) inches
- Top Edge Circumference: 19¼ (22½) inches
- Height: 8½ (9¾) inches, unrolled
Sample: We knit the Adult size.
HAT
Toddler (Kid, Adult Small/Medium, Adult Large/Extra Large)
To fit actual head circumference of 16–19 (18–21, 20–22, 22–24) inches with 0–3 inches of negative ease
- Finished Circumference: 15¾ (17½, 19¼, 20¾) inches, unstretched
- Finished Height: 8¾ (10, 11¼, 11½) inches, unrolled
Sample: We knit the Adult Small/Medium size.
HAND WARMERS
Toddler (Kid, Adult Small/Medium, Adult Large/Extra Large)
- Finished Circumference: 5¼ (6, 7, 7¾) inches
- Finished Length: 5¼ (7¼, 8¼, 8¼) inches
Sample: We knit the Adult Small/Medium size.
PATTERN
The Skating Rink Collection Pattern is available for purchase as a PDF download only.
Share your progress and connect with the community by tagging your pics with #PurlSoho. We can’t wait to see what you make!
Learn About Knitting Yarn DK + All Our Beautiful Yarns
A true classic loved by knitters and crocheters alike, Knitting Yarn DK brings its crisp stitch definition, soft strength, and cushiony feel to this project! Made with 100% New Zealand merino wool, this light worsted/DK-weight yarn comes in a ready-to-knit ball you’ll love to knit from. Simple stitches, dimensional textures, beautifully articulated cables, and glorious colorwork… Everything looks amazing in Knitting Yarn DK! Making something big, like a blanket or sweater? Shop our 1000-gram Knitting Yarn DK On A Cone collection, too!
More Knitting Patterns
- Be sure to explore our collection of (mostly free!) Knitting Yarn DK knitting patterns and cast on!
More Light Worsted/DK-Weight Yarns
- Shop our entire collection of light worsted/DK-weight yarns (What does DK-weight yarn mean, really? Our guide to DK yarn will answer your questions and demystify.)
- If you want to use a different yarn, be sure to take the time to get the correct gauge. Need help? Check our All About Gauge Tutorial and our Yarn Substitution article for lots of helpful information.
More Yarns With Similar Fiber
- Shop merino wool yarn
Looking for more inspiration? Explore all of our knitting patterns (including tons of free knitting patterns) and knitting tutorials, buy one of our many knitting kits and yarn bundles, and shop for beautiful yarn. We have over 35 gorgeous natural fiber yarns in 100’s of magnificent colors, designed to bring integrity, beauty, and joy to your next knitting project and only available at Purl Soho!
Is this “skating” technique considered intermediate or advanced beginner or advanced?
Thank you
Hi Rennee,
Thank you for writing in! I would say this pattern is an advanced beginner project but we definitely encourage all skill levels to give it a try! We’re always only an email or comment away and always happy to help should you get stuck anywhere in the pattern.
Happy knitting,
Gavriella
Hi is this pattern using Brioche knitting?
Hi Jane,
Thank you for writing in! This pattern doesn’t use brioche but instead a technique with a 2 color slipped stitch for the lovely result you see here. I hope this helps clarify but please let us know if there is anything else we can answer for you, we are always happy to help!
All the best,
Gavriella
Working on the cowl – when slipping the first 3 stitches in round 1 repeats of the body then knitting the first 3 stitches in round 2 repeats, one should use the same color for those 3 stitches in all 16 rounds of the sections, correct? Otherwise the stripe effect would not evolve? The pattern doesn’t seem to address this.
Also, can you explain how to trap floats on the back side when making the purl stitches in the garter pattern? There are 10 stitches to be purled in round 2 and that would create a long float without trapping the other color of the “stripe”. Thank you!
Hi Sylvia,
Thanks so much for reaching out! You can find all of the color orders listed on page 2 of the pattern. There, you’ll see instructions indicating which color to use for each round.
For example, in the Even Two-Color Slip Stitch section, you’ll be working with Color Pair 3—this means Color C is used for odd rounds and Color B for even rounds. So, you’ll knit rounds 1, 3, 5, etc. with Color C, and rounds 2, 4, 6, etc. with Color B.
You won’t need to trap any floats, since you’ll only be working with one color per round. I hope this helps clarify and happy knitting!
All the best,
Gavriella