Get a Woven Look with This Mosaic Knit Shawl

When I look at this shawl I just think about fall. I know it’s coming sometime, and on one of those crisp fall mornings it would be great to have a big cuddly shawl to wear.

The Snapdragon shawl from Berroco uses two-color mosaic knitting to make a fun woven effect on the surface of the shawl. It’s a triangular shawl worked in fine weight yarn, and one of the yarns is a multicolor, which brings a lot of depth to the design without making it any more difficult to work. The fringe adds a fun touch and it’s super easy to do: you just drop a few stitches when the knitting is done, making fringe that’s actually loops.

This design does involve reading a chart, so it’s not as easy as mosaic knitting can get, but it’s still not too difficult. You only work with one color per row, and you change colors every row (working across and back counts as a row), slipping stitches as you go to bring the other color up into that row. And once you get going the pattern makes logical sense such that you might not have to rely on the chart much once you get going.

The shawl looks plenty cozy as it is, but I’m also thinking about how a worsted weight version would be for winter. If you don’t alter the design to account for bigger gauge you’d have basically knit a giant triangular blanket, which sounds pretty nice for those cold days that are no doubt coming, hard though that may be to believe right now.

If you’re new to mosaic knitting or just want to try some more patterns, check out my roundup of mosaic knitting designs. Every time I think about mosaic knitting I wish I did more of it because it’s such a fun and effective technique for adding graphical designs to a knitting project.

You can find this free pattern on the Berroco website.

[Photo: Berroco.]

Next Pattern:

Blankets are a great blank slate project that you can change up in a million different ways. From color to stitch pattern to size, the possibilities are almost endless.

Jared Flood, the designer behind Brooklyn Tweed, was inspired by a log cabin quilt his mother made in 1995 to re-create that design in knitting, which led to more blankets and ultimate Brooklyn Tweed’s Knit and Crochet Blankets, which includes 25 patterns from an array of designers using different skills and techniques to make cozy, pretty blankets.

The patterns are divided into three aesthetic themes: traditions, minimalism and colorplay. The patterns are rated on a scale of one to five, with one being the easiest, and there aren’t any pieces rated five. Two blankets are rated one, 14 are two, eight are three and one is four.

In addition, three of the 25 patterns are crocheted, but they either use single crochet or granny stitch, so they are pretty easy even if you don’t do a lot of crochet. You can see all the patterns on Ravelry.

Some of my favorites include Rattan by Rastus Hsu, a chunky blanket worked in knits and purls with simple crossing stitches to make a raised woven look; Homewood by Seth Richardson, covers in dramatic, loopy cables; Ainur Berkimbayeva’s Tessellate, one of the beginner projects that doesn’t really look beginner but is totally worked in knit and purl stitches; Warp + Weft by Aist? Butkevi?ien?, which is mostly knits and purls but makes a fun woven look fabric that blew my mind a little bit; and the same designer’s Canyonland, a multicolored blanket with wavy stripes.

The patterns tell you how to resize them for different dimensions and include information on pattern repeats where it is possible to make a totally custom size.

Many different techniques are included here such as cables, lace, shadow knitting, intarsia and other colorwork techniques, as well as modular knitting and lots of sewing pieces together. The patterns are all presented with charts, but there are line by line written instructions available on the Brooklyn Tweed website if you need them.

The book ends with a deep dive into log cabin knitting, telling the story of the quilt Jared’s mom made and how he made it in knitting, as well as the multitude of variations you can make if you want your own log cabin style design.

The back of the book includes a little written information about some of the special techniques needed, but there are no photos.

This is a lovely book full of inspiration for knitting and crochet blankets for any skill level. If you like to make blankets as gifts or aspire to have a handmade blanket in every room of the house, these designs would be a great place to start.

About the book: 192 pages, paperback, 25 patterns. Published 2024 by Abrams Books, suggested retail price $24.99.

Next Pattern:

Have you read?

Leave a Reply