Welcome to the House of Nikko. Would you like to have water or sake?

This Amimoji design will produce a reversible knitted coaster using Japanese Kanji characters. One side of the coaster reads Mizu (水), meaning Water, and the other side reads Sake (酒), meaning, well, Sake, or alcoholic beverages. You can use this coaster when drinking water, sake, or whatever is your choice of beverage.

Skill Level: Intermediate
Skills Needed: Two-pattern double knitting.
Finished Size: Approx 5 in x 5 in (12.5cm x 12.5cm)

Suggested Materials:
• CoBaSi DK by HiKoo Yarn (55% Cotton, 16% Viscose from Bamboo, 8% Silk, 21% Elastic Nylon). 1 skein (50g) in #011 Indigo (Color A) and 1 skein (50g) in #012 Iris Blue (Color B). 1 skein each of Color A and Color B will produce approximately 5 coasters.
• US #3 (3.25mm) needles, or size to obtain gauge
• Stitch markers
• Tapestry needle and scissors for weaving in ends

Gauge: 18 sts and 24 rows per 4 in (10cm) in double knitting stockinette stitch worked flat

Pattern Notes:
Two-pattern Double Knitting

1. This pattern uses two-pattern double knitting. Two-pattern double knitting is a technique to make asymmetric designs truly reversible by making asymmetric characters legible on the reverse side. For more information on two-pattern double knitting, visit http://double-knitting.com/ by Alasdair Post-Quinn.
2. Repeats will be expressed as “x”. For example, “x 20” means repeat 20 times.
3. In double knitting, a knit stitch is always followed by a purl stitch. You carry strands of both colors to the back when you knit, and to the front when you purl. In order to simplify the written instructions, the following format will be used:

AB: K1 in Color A wyib, P1 in Color B wyif
BA: K1 in Color B wyib, P1 in Color A wyif
AA: K1 in Color A wyib, P1 in Color A wyif
BB: K1 in Color B wyib, P1 in Color B wyif

Edge Solutions
Twist: At the beginning of each row, twist the yarns (rotate Color A around Color B, or vice versa). This will “lock” the edge and prevents undesired holes (pictured).
Selvedge: At the end of each row (last pair of stitches), as indicated in the chart and instructions, slip the 1st stitch as if to purl with yarn in the back, then slip the 2nd stitch as if to purl through the back loop with yarn in the front.