Basic Triangle Shawl Knitting Pattern

A basic triangle shawl is a great project to have in your arsenal. If you’ve never done shaping before, you’ll get a lot of practice with increases (in this case, yarn overs). And once you understand how knitting a triangle works, it’s a basic shape and project that you can make over and over again in different ways.

This basic triangle shawl pattern from Mirella Moments is worked from the bottom up in DK or light worsted yarn. It has garter stitch borders and the body is worked in stockinette. Though it’s knit flat, you’ll want a circular knitting needle for ease of holding all those stitches.

Because it’s a blank canvas, there are a lot of potential options for customization, such as:

use heavier or lighter-weight yarn
add stripes
make the borders a different stitch pattern like moss or seed stitch
use a different increase method
work the body in a different stitch pattern or add garter ridges

In addition to using different weights of yarn you could also make different sizes of shawls depending on how much of a particular yarn you have on hand. Shawls like this are great for using those random balls of yarn you aren’t sure what to do with, or leftovers from other projects.

They’re a little more fun to knit than scarves but you can still find places to donate them to charity, or they make great gifts.

You can get this free pattern from Mirella Moments.

And of course there are lots of variations on the basic triangle that make great, easy shawl knitting projects as well, like an asymmetrical triangle (this one is from Yarnspirations). And speaking of using scraps for your shawl, I recently shared a scrappy shawl pattern designed to do just that, if you want more guidance than just “use all your scraps on this project.”

[Photo: Mirella Moments]

As we get into the part of the year with a lot of food-forward holidays, it might be time to start thinking about knitting some new things for your table. While a few of these are more fall/Thanksgiving focused, just changing up the colors would make others work for Christmas, or keep it neutral and use them all year long.

What got me started thinking about this was the lovely and simple Fresh Bread Dishtowel, a free pattern from Purl Soho. Worked in a lovely cotton and linen blend, the towel is mostly stockinette stitch with a bit of texture on the borders.

You could use this same kind of pattern to make anything from placemats to a table runner, but let’s look at some specific patterns for those kinds of projects as well.

The easy moss stitch table runner from Glass Bird Knits is beginner friendly can can easily be modified to fit your table (or, again, to make placemats instead of or in addition to a runner). This version is worked in macrame cord, but you could also use bulky yarn.

Emielle Design has a garter stitch runner pattern that’s made with braided cotton cord for a lot of texture without a lot of work. But be sure to take a lot of breaks when knitting with cord because it can be rough on your hands!

I also love the diamond pattern on the Hamilton Table Runner from Wyndlestraw Designs. It calls for a DK weight cotton and linen blend yarn and comes in three sizes with different widths and lengths. The pattern has both written and charted instructions.

Amy Marie’s Table Pumpkins (on Ravelry) is a fun mosaic knitting pattern that would be great to use as a table runner through the fall and for Thanksgiving. It uses a worsted weight cotton yarn in two colors, and you can make it as long as you like for your table.

The no cable knit placemats from Yarn Culture Studio have a fun faux cable look that would be great for the table through the fall and winter.

Or here’s another pattern from Wyndlestraw Designs, this time for an easy knit and purl stitch placemat pattern that looks different but still good on both sides. It calls for worsted weight cotton and comes in two sizes for placemats, but also has instructions for coasters, a hot pad and a table pad all using the same stitch.

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