Bead Toss

Bead Toss Crescent Shawl by Carissa Browning

What is Being Made

The Bead Toss is a playful crescent-shaped shawl designed by Carissa Browning and inspired by the colorful strings of beads tossed to party-goers during Mardi Gras celebrations. This beginner-friendly knitting project creates a wearable accessory with a finished span of 90 inches and a center height of 15 inches, making it a generous crescent shawl suitable for layering or draping.

Techniques and Stitch Work

The Bead Toss shawl features a creative combination of fundamental knitting techniques that create visual interest through color and texture. The primary construction uses garter stitch, a foundational knitting stitch created by knitting every row, which produces a reversible, textured fabric with horizontal ridges.

The signature design element of this shawl is the incorporation of a Blister Stitch variation, also known as Coin Stitch or Shaded Bobble Stitch. This stitch pattern creates decorative raised stripes that resemble beads scattered across the fabric, directly referencing the Mardi Gras bead-tossing inspiration. The blister stitch is constructed by working four rows of stockinette stitch (knit on right-side rows, purl on wrong-side rows) in one of the mini skein colors, followed by a fifth row worked in the main color where every fourth stitch is dropped to create the characteristic textured effect.

This combination of garter stitch and blister stitch creates a fabric with both smooth and dimensional qualities, making the shawl visually dynamic while remaining accessible to beginner knitters.

Yarn and Materials

The Bead Toss shawl is designed to be knitted using two types of yarn from Teenybutton Studio:

• Main Color (A): Teenybutton Studio Soft Sock yarn in the colorway Beignets. This yarn is composed of 75% merino and 25% nylon, offering durability and softness. One full skein is required, which contains 463 yards (423 meters) per 100-gram skein.
• Accent Colors (B, C, D, E, F): Teenybutton Studio Mini Skeins in the Mardi Gras Krewe set, which includes the colorways Bacchus, Caesar, Chewbacchus, Nyx, and Orpheus. These mini skeins use the same fiber blend of 75% merino and 25% nylon as the main yarn. Each individual mini skein contains 92 yards (84 meters) per 20-gram skein, with the complete set providing 460 yards (421 meters) per 100-gram total.
• Needles: US #3 (3.25mm) needles are used for knitting the shawl.
• Additional Tools: A tapestry needle is required for finishing and weaving in ends.

Gauge and Finished Dimensions

Proper gauge is essential for achieving the correct finished size. After blocking, the shawl is worked to the following gauge specifications:

• 16 stitches and 48 rows equal 4 inches in garter stitch
• 16 stitches and 24 rows equal 4 inches in blister stitch

The finished shawl measures 90 inches across the span with a center height of 15 inches, creating a generous crescent shape suitable for wearing as a wrap or shawlette.

Difficulty Level

This pattern is rated as beginner-friendly, making it an excellent choice for knitters new to shawl construction. While the pattern incorporates stitch variations like the blister stitch, the techniques remain accessible and the overall construction is straightforward, allowing newer knitters to build confidence while creating an impressive finished garment.