Wrap Yourself in Reversible Cables

I love a good wrap any time of year (though I maybe enjoy knitting them a bit more than I enjoy wearing them — I have a bunch but wear the same two or three on repeat), and the Riverwalk Wrap from Elizabeth Di Benedetto is a great project to teach you a new skill or two and give you a classic wrap you’ll love to wear all year.

The main design feature of this trapezoidal shawl is reversible cables. The cables are worked over 16 stitches and 16 rows (with a cable cross every 8 rows) and all the stitches are worked through the back loop. Once you get used to working in the back loops and begin to read your knitting, the pattern is pretty simple and intuitive.

The pattern explains how to check your gauge and determine the stitch count you need for the size of shawl you want to make. Hers is rather large (108 inches on its longest side) but you can adjust to make it bigger or smaller as you like.

It also uses an I-cord edging, which is quite minimalist and doesn’t detract or draw attention away from the main pattern. Skills you will need for this pattern include knowing how to work cables and directional decreases, working knits and purls in the back loop and working I-cord edging and as a bind off. It also uses a provisional cast on.

The designer says the pattern is recommended to be worked with an alpaca blend yarn for the slight fuzzy halo, but you can try other fibers depending on the look you are going for and how warm or light you want your finished wrap to be. This is definitely a pattern where swatching benefits you, not just to know how many stitches you’re getting per inch, but also to see how the stitch pattern looks in your chosen yarn.

You can get this pattern as a free Ravelry download.

[Photo: Elizabeth Di Benedetto.]

When I discovered Kate Atherley’s book Circular Knitting for Beginners and Beyond, I wasn’t sure there was enough to say about circular knitting to fill a book. It’s a pretty short book (144 pages) and includes 10 patterns to practice working in the round on small projects, and it provides a decent introduction to the various ways of working in the round.

The book covers using double pointed knitting needles, flexible double points and circular knitting needles with cables. It talks about working using the full circumference of a circular needle and various ways to work smaller circumference projects, such as using DPNs, magic loop and knitting with two circular knitting needles.

In addition there’s a discussion of preventing problems like twists and ladders, swatching in the round without actually swatching in the round, grafting, blocking and weaving in ends.

More specialized techniques likes knitting from the center out, stranded colorwork, helical knitting and jogless stripes are also explored, as well as working pieces like socks or mitts two at a time.

There’s also some information about seamless sweaters, including the different sweater designs that can be worked seamlessly (and why you might want seams in your sweaters) and how they are worked from the top down or the bottom up.

There are 10 patterns in the book, including a basic stockinette stitch cowl and one with a deliberate twist, wrist warmers, mitts and a pair of colorwork mittens, a hat worked in a solid color or in helical stripes, toe up and top down socks and a beret. It would have been nice to have a basic sweater pattern, too, since the book does talk about working larger garments with circular needles, but it’s still a nice collection of basic patterns worked in the round.

If you’re already comfortable working in the round in different ways, I’m not sure there’s much for you to learn in this book, but it is a good reference for people learning circular knitting or who maybe haven’t tried all the techniques yet or need skill building projects to try.

About the book: 144 pages, paperback, 10 patterns. Published 2026 by David & Charles. Suggested retail price $24.99.

Have you read?