Crossing Twigs Shawl

Knitting pattern for a shawl in two colors

All modeled pictures were made by Day in the Light Photography.

Thanks, Anna-Lisa and Kristi, for providing beautiful photos.

Crossing Twigs Shawl was inspired by trees in the winter. The cable motif of the border with lots of twists and turns is reminiscent of the look of the leafless trees when you can see many single branches and twigs, and how they cross each other.

The shawl is a triangular shawl with slightly crescent upper corners, it is worked from the neckline down with the main color for the body and in contrast color for the border. The border connects to the live stitches of the body as it is worked.

Inspiration 

This is a very unusual project, and it started not with the idea of a specific design but with the idea of creating a magazine. Several designers got together and wanted to make a magazine fully led by designers, we named it inTANDEM. We launched a Kickstarter campaign and were successfully funded to publish 4 issues of inTANDEM for the full year. Three issues: 01-Fall, 02-Winter, and 03-Spring, are for knitters, and one 04-Summer is for crocheters.

Each of the issues has a theme, and issue 02-Winter is all about cables.

I love cables and decided to jump to this issue and create something cozy with intricate cables.

The idea of a shawl formed by looking at leafless trees, how you can see many single branches and twigs, and how they cross each other. I found a cabled stitch pattern that reminded me of this effect. At the same time, I wanted to create a project that does not totally consume your attention, but also gives you a few relaxing moments of knitting. And an idea came, that the main body will be in a more easy stitch pattern, and only the border will have intricate cables.

To visually divide the body even more from the border, I made a shawl in two colors.

That's the story behind the Crossing Twigs Shawl.

Would you like to see, what't inside the whole issue? Here are my two YouTube shorts I made at the time of the release of inTANDEM: scrolling through the magazine, and all the designs in the issue.

Yarn

All the yarn for inTANDEM was provided by Malabrigo Yarn. We were very grateful for this collaboration.

For my design, Crossing Twigs Shawl, I used Malabrigo Arroyo. I made a reel on Instagram with unpacking and winding this yarn, look at it here.

Malabrigo Arroyo is DK/sport weight yarn with 335 yds (306 m)/3.5 oz (100 g), 100% Superwash Merino Wool.

What a scrumptious yarn it is! Very soft and squishy, and the colors are gorgeous. Absolutely wonderful to work with. For the design, I used two hues of blue - color 52 Paris Night (main) and 27 Bobby Blue (border).

Would you like to see what kind of yarn other people chose to work this pattern? Here's my Instagram post with pictures of my testers.

Construction

The shawl works from the neckline down, starting with a garter tab in the center top of the shawl. The body uses the main color. The border works in contrast color, starting with the tip of each wing separately. The border also connects to the live stitches of the body as you go. Right and left borders are meeting in the middle and connecting to each other with an I-cord. So you'll start the whole shawl with only 4 stitches, and you'll finish your project with only 3 stitches.

The arrows on the schematic show the direction of work.

Stitch patterns

Three stitch patterns are involved in this design:

1. Garter stitch is used for the spine and the top and bottom edges of the shawl.

2. The Twisted Candles stitch pattern is for the body of the shawl; it has stockinette stitch rows and reverse stockinette with some crossing stitches over it.

3. And the main attraction of this design is the Tilted Argyle pattern for the border. Here, you'll be crossing stitches left and right, knit over knit, and knit over purl. If you know how to do cables without a cable needle, it will definitely speed up the process. Most crossings are 2 or 3 stitches. Definitely recommend trying to work without a cable needle.

Needed skills to make the shawl

You need to know how to knit and purl, do left and right knit and purl increases, make 2/2 and 3/3 cables, Provisional cast on, and I-cord.

Size: one size

Finished measurements: width 76” (190 cm), depth 27” (67 cm).

What do you need to make the shawl

Yarn: Sport weight yarn

Sample made with Malabrigo Arroyo, 100% Superwash Merino Wool, 335 yds (306 m)/ 3.5 oz (100 g)

MC: 2 skeins, or approx. 575 yds (525 m)

CC: 2 skeins, or approx. 550 yds (500 m)

Needles: US 4 (3.5 mm) circular needles 24” (60 cm) and 40” (100 cm) or 48” (120 cm) long.

Notions: Waste yarn (approx. sport weight), crochet hook US E (3.5 mm), 4 stitch markers, cable needle, blocking mat and pins, measuring tape, scissors, tapestry needle

Where to find the pattern Crossing Twigs Shawl

The pattern is available as a single pattern on Ravelry and Payhip.

Crossing Twigs Shawl on Ravelry

Crossing Twigs Shawl on Payhip

You can also purchase the whole inTANDEM 02-Winter issue as an e-book on Ravelry.

E-book inTANDEM 02-Winter

If you are interested in purchasing a printed copy, please shoot me a direct message on Instagram, or Ravelry, or email, and I can find out if copies are still available.

I hope you can enjoy making the shawl using this pattern as much as I enjoyed designing it.

Happy knitting!

Please, if you’re sharing your finished projects on social media, tag me @natalia_yarncraft and use the hashtag #CrossingTwigsShawl