Knit a Lavish Shawl with Lace and Bobbles

Full disclosure: I’m not much of a bobble person. I don’t love knitting them, and I don’t usually like the way they look on knit fabric. I’m not going to yuck anyone else’s yum, but they’re generally just not for me.

But when I saw the Mossblossom shawl pattern from Wool & Pine I thought maybe I had misjudged bobbles. Because these are pretty combined with lace and textured ripples that make a design with a luxurious look.

This large rectangular shawl uses a couple of skeins (about 700 or 800 yards, or 640-732 meters) or fingering weight yarn, and it looks like just the thing for those special skeins you’ve been saving (or add a couple to your holiday gift list so you can treat yourself!).

Despite all the details in this shawl, it’s actually pretty easy to knit. It’s a rectangle with repeating lace, wavy garter stitch ridges and bobble stitches, with wavy lace edges to make it even more fun.

One really cool thing about this design is that, when the knitting is done, you stitch a tiny seam at the corner after folding it in half. This little 2 inch/5 cm seam turns the shawl into more of a cowl, helping it stay on your body and giving it more of a triangular shape when you wear it. Of course you don’t have to do it that way, but it does make a big difference in how the shawl wears.

There’s a video on the pattern page on Ravelry that shoes you just how to wear it if my description doesn’t help.

Speaking of Ravelry, you can grab the pattern there or at the Wool & Pine website.

As a total aside, is yellow the color of the season? Just the other day I shared Mabel’s Sweater, which is also yellow. Of course you can use whatever color you want, but it sure is pretty!

[Photo: Wool & Pine]

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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.

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