Wine country shawl

Wine Country Shawl by Petra Christel Breakstone

Project Overview

The Wine Country shawl is an oversized triangular knit shawl designed by independent designer Petra Christel Breakstone. This intermediate-level project features a generous finished size of 85 inches in length and 25 inches in height, making it a substantial wrap suitable for layering or draping. The shawl's design was inspired by vineyard imagery from the designer's honeymoon in California's Wine Country, translated into decorative bobble stitches that resemble clusters of grapes throughout the piece.

Construction and Techniques

The Wine Country shawl begins with a Garter stitch tab cast on, a foundational technique that creates a neat, reinforced edge for the triangular shape. From this starting point, the shawl increases throughout its length, building the characteristic triangular silhouette through strategic increases worked into the knit fabric. This construction method allows for continuous growth in width and length as you progress through the pattern.

The shawl incorporates multiple color changes throughout the design, making it an excellent "use your stash project." The varied color work creates visual interest and allows knitters to incorporate leftover yarn from previous projects. This approach makes the Wine Country shawl both economical and creatively flexible.

Stitches and Stitch Details

The primary stitch structure is Garter stitch, worked in bulky weight yarn at a gauge of 7.5 stitches and 13 rows per 4 inches. Garter stitch creates a reversible, textured fabric with prominent horizontal ridges that showcase color variations beautifully.

The shawl features decorative bobbles in two sizes—little and big grapes—that add dimensional texture and visual appeal. These bobbles are abbreviated as B in the pattern and are worked strategically throughout to create grape-like clusters. Additional shaping stitches used include:

• Kfb (knit in front and back) – an increase stitch that creates two stitches from one
• K2tog (knit two together) – a decrease stitch that combines two stitches into one
• K (knit) – the fundamental knit stitch

Yarn and Materials

The pattern is designed to work with bulky weight yarn and accommodates multiple yarn weights for flexibility. The recommended yarn quantity is 200 yards in bulky weight yarn. Alternatively, knitters may use 400 yards total in mixed weights ranging from lace, fingering, sport, and worsted to bulky, allowing for creative stash busting with 20-yard portions in various weights.

The pattern references yarn cakes available in various textures, colors, and weights. Knitters will need appropriate needles for their chosen yarn weight—typically larger needles for bulky yarn to achieve the specified gauge of 7.5 stitches per 4 inches in Garter stitch.

Pattern Format and Support

The Wine Country shawl is provided as a downloadable PDF pattern with written instructions. The pattern includes three instructional video links to guide knitters through key techniques, making it accessible for intermediate-level knitters who may benefit from visual demonstrations of the Garter stitch tab cast on, bobble construction, and color changes.

Difficulty Level

Rated as intermediate difficulty, this project is suitable for knitters with foundational skills who are ready to tackle projects involving multiple techniques including tab cast ons, increases, decreases, bobble stitches, and color changes. The straightforward Garter stitch base makes the project manageable while the design elements provide engaging complexity.