Michelle I’ve designed four different crescent shawls over the years and it’s a shape I really enjoy knitting. It’s a shape that we usually knit from either the bottom to the top or from the top down.
Bottom-Up Crescent Shawls
Two of my crescent-shaped shawl patterns are knit from the bottom up. They begin with a lace section for the border and they use short rows to shape the stockinette body. They are the Contentment Shawl and Fern Leaf Shawl.
Contentment Shawl
The Contentment Shawl is knit from the bottom up starting with the lace border. It uses the same lace pattern used in the Contentment Cowl pattern. The yarn used in this design is Madelinetosh Tosh Sock in Oak. The body is knit in stockinette and unfortunately it often curls even after blocking it. The eyelet edge along the top of this shawl helps to minimize that curling.
Fern Leaf Shawl
The Fern Leaf Shawl is also worked from the bottom up and the pretty lace border on this shawl mimics fern fronds. Just like the Contentment Shawl, the Fern Leaf Shawl is a one-skein project. I designed this one in Zen Yarn Garden Serenity Silk Single in Frosted Kiwi. The body of this shawl is also stockinette and it also uses short rows for shaping.
Top-Down Crescent Shawls
Top-down crescent-shaped shawls are very easy to knit, using increases along the edge to grow the shawl. The knitting starts at the middle of the top edge. A drawback to this shape is that there can be an obvious hump left at the cast-on site as you can see in the swatches shown below. I have two shawl patterns, Mom’s Shawl and Dancing Skies Shawl, that use this shape and although there are techniques that can minimize this hump my two designs have the slight hump. I find that heavy blocking is often enough to straighten this edge.
Mom’s Shawl
Mom’s Shawl consists of two colours of Malabrigo Mechita – eggplant and sandbank. Although it uses two straight-forward colours there really are endless possibilities in colour choices. I’d love to find the time to knit another one using gradient yarn for the stripes against a high contrast background. What do you think?
Dancing Skies Shawl
The Dancing Skies Shawl is also a top-down crescent-shaped shawl. It uses dropped yarn overs and a striking variegated yarn for a beautiful effect. Yarn choice is important with this pattern. The original yarn is no longer available and so I’m on the hunt for a similar yarn to re-knit it and to update the pattern.
I did knit a second one a couple of years ago in a lighter, more subdued colourway. As you can see here, the difference is noticeable.
This one really shines in a yarn with bright stretches of colour against a contrasting background. The northern lights inspired me to design this shawl. These bright colours against the dark navy background really give that effect.
I hope I’ve inspired you to try a crescent-shaped shawl pattern if you haven’t before. Or, I hope I’ve encouraged you to knit another one. It’s a great shape for a single skein of yarn and it’s just challenging enough to keep it interesting but not too difficult.