Knit a Super Cozy Triangular Shawl

There’s so much to love about the Lilitha shawl pattern from Bigger than Life Knits. It’s a little asymmetrical triangle, which is probably the easiest kind of triangle to wear. There’s not a lot of excess fabric and you can almost wear it like a scarf to keep you warm.

And this one definitely will keep you warm. It’s worked with a superfine yarn combined with mohair, making a weight like a DK weight. The mohair gives it a fuzzy texture that’s nice and warm, though of course you can also just knit with a DK weight yarn of your choice if you’d rather.

The majority of the shawl is stockinette stitch, but the long lower edge of the triangle has a lace edging that almost looks like hearts stacked on each other.

You can get the pattern from Noma Ndlovu aka Bigger than Life Hand Knits, on Ravelry.

Speaking of how to wear shawls, though, I was looking back at some old posts about triangular shawls and I found one with a dead link that was about how to style triangular scarves.

While this is more of an issue when you have a really large triangle (or a large shawl of any shape, really) it’s good to think about the different ways you could wear a shawl in case you normally always wear your shawls the same way.

I found this post from Berroco about different ways to wear shawls, which includes both watercolor illustrations and photos of different shawls shown worn in different ways.

You can also use the pattern itself to see different ways to wear that particular shawl. For instance the Lilitha pattern shows it worn like a bandana, with the tail to the front or the back, and almost like a poncho. There are so many different options!

[Photo: Noma Ndlovu.]

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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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