Get Cozy with the Paperdawn Shawl

I love a good worsted weight shawl because it’s almost like wearing a blanket, or having a blanket with you all the time that you can throw over your shoulders, or over your legs as you need it.

Paperdawn by Melanie Berg is such a project. It’s a large asymmetrical triangle worked in garter stitch and mosaic colorwork using three colors of worsted weight yarn. It’s easy to knit and to wear in place of a scarf or as an extra bit of warmth to have at the ready as the days start to get a little warmer. Which I’m sure will happen eventually.

The shawl has a wingspan of 102.5 inches/260 cm on the longest side and is 27.5 inches or 70 centimeters deep. The pattern is available on Ravelry and it comes in English, Spanish and German.

What’s really cool about this pattern, and many of Melanie’s shawls and other patterns, is the inclusion of what she calls a Row Map. The row map was originally developed by Chad Lewis of Chad Knits, who designed it as a detailed worksheet to follow to help knitters keep track of where they are and what they need to do from row to row in their project.

The intent was to help knitters dealing with “chemo brain” from cancer treatment, because it can be difficult for them to follow patterns and remember where they are or what’s happening in the pattern from row to row or day to day. Chad shared the row map concept with Melaine, who is herself a cancer survivor, and she started incorporating them into her projects.

The page linked above shows an example of what the map looks like, with space for which color is which and a place to mark off each row and double check you have the correct number of stitches. I can see how this would be helpful for lots of knitters.

“We believe that with the help of a Row Map, all knitters facing concentration challenges can confidently pick up their needles and continue knitting with ease,” they said. They ask that anyone who finds them helpful donate to a cancer charity in their home country (there are links on Chad’s website and Melanie’s row map page on Ravelry).

[Photo: Melanie Berg]

6 Shawls In A Ball Patterns

Book Review: 50 Knitted Wraps and Shawls

Next Pattern:

As I write this, it’s probably time to start thinking about winter knitting if you haven’t already. And it’s definitely time to think about gift knitting if you have any of that you plan to do for the holidays.

The Dreamy Waves Scarf from Knit Picks, designed by Stacey Winklepleck, would be a great project to go in either category.

It uses two different multicolored yarns and a simple repeating wave pattern to make a project that looks a lot more complicated and dramatic than it is. The gradient look happens naturally just by switching which yarn you’re knitting with.

This pattern uses worsted weight yarn so it’s a pretty quick project even though a scarf is large and this one is pretty wide. It measures 8.5 inches (21.5 cm) wide and 63 inches or 120 cm long. Of course you can make it longer or shorter as you like. As written it takes one ball of each color so it’s a pretty economical project, too.

It’s rated for intermediate knitters but if you know how to do various increases and decreases you’ll be all set. The pattern uses knit 2 together, make 1 left and right, centered double decrease and slip slip knit. All of the stitches are explained in a glossary in the pattern so even if you haven’t done all of them it shouldn’t be too hard to figure out.

The pattern also includes tons of options for different colorways in yarn that Knit Picks sells, so you can see how different combinations knit up before you buy the yarn. That’s such a great idea!

Of course if you already have two multicolored yarns with long color runs on hand, you can absolutely use them, too. It might also be fun, but would give you a totally different look, to use a solid color and a bunch of scraps or one multicolored yarn to see how the different colors play together. So many options!

You can grab this free pattern and check out all the color options at Knit Picks.

[Photo: Knit Picks]

Summer Shawl and Scarf Knitting Patterns

Take It Easy with the Bessie Scarf

Sweater Scarf Knitting Patterns

Next Pattern:

Have you read?

Leave a Reply