Knit a Shawl with a Quilt-Styled Star

I was just talking the other day about my love for quilt inspired knitting projects, and then another one came upon my screen: the Clint pattern from Natasja Hornby.

This large boomerang shawl calls for sport weight yarn in four colors, though you could use heavier yarn and make it even bigger. It’s already plenty large, though, at 75 inches/190 cm across the top of the triangle and 23.5 inches/60 cm deep.

The pattern begins with the modular colorwork star design that makes up the center back of the shawl. The blocks are worked individually and attached to each other seamlessly as you knit. They’re bias knit squares worked in garter stitch, and there’s a video tutorial showing how to join them together.

Once the star portion has been worked, you pick up stitches for the upper and lower parts of the center block, then for the sides. The top edge of the shawl is finished with an attached I-cord, while stitches are picked up along the bottom sides to work the scalloped edging.

There’s a lot going on in this project but at the same time the finished shawl looks simple somehow. Maybe it’s the rustic color choices and the simplicity of the garter stitch squares that gives a sort of feeling of ease to the look.

One of the projects on Ravelry says that nothing about the shawl was hard, but it was interesting, and I think that’s what I mean, too, is that it’s interesting but also has an ease about it, like it’s quite natural that it turned out the way it turned out. Which I know as a designer is actually a hard thing to do!

The designer describes it as rhythmic and soothing as well as engaging and fun because of the modular design. I think all of that is true, too. It just looks like it would be a lot of fun to knit and to wear.

Learn more and get a copy of the pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Natasja Hornby]

It feels like it’s too early to be thinking about back to school, but as I write this my daughter has just a couple of weeks of summer left! So let’s get in that school and fall knitting spirit by looking at some apple knitting projects.

If you have a 22 needle circular knitting machine, knitting an apple is one of the easiest things you can do. I have an apple pattern over at Our Daily Craft that will take you just a few minutes to knit and they’re a great addition to your fall decor.

Apple hats are a classic, and whether you want to knit a hat that looks like an apple or one with apples on it, we’ve got you covered. For hats that look like apples check out the rolled brim version from Emma Crochet Design 4 U, which uses worsted weight yarn and comes in sizes for kids of all ages; and the ribbed brim version from Hand Knit Hugs. This one also calls for worsted weight yarn and comes in four kids sizes. Both include a stem and leaf.

If you’d rather have apples on your hat, try the Red Apple Hat from Little Red Window. This one is sized from newborn to 2T and calls for four colors of worsted weight yarn.

How about apple socks? You’ll find Ariel Chang’s Apple Picnic Socks as a free download on Ravelry. These use three colors of sock yarn and come in three sizes. Stone Knits also a pair of stripey apple socks that show the inside of the apple. These also have three sizes but they use six colors total, with the main color being a self-striping yarn.

If you want a little apple accessory for the house, the apple potholder from Nifty Knitter Designs is cute and a great way to practice double knitting. It uses two colors and you’ll find the colors in the reverse on the other side. The pattern only uses about 50 yards of each color of worsted weight yarn, so it’s a great use for odd balls, too.

Once you’ve got your double knitting skills sorted you can also try the double knit apple scarf from Crow and Chai Shop. The Winter Apples scarf is shown in red and gold, but you can use whatever colors you like. There are apples, stars and random stitches in the design, which calls for DK weight yarn. There’s also a matching fingerless glove pattern.

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