Berroco Briolette Wrap Knitting Pattern

Berroco Briolette Lace Shawl

What is Being Made

The Berroco Briolette is an intermediate-level knitted shawl designed by Amy Christoffers. This elegant wrap measures approximately 72 inches across by 24 inches down the center after blocking, making it a generous triangular shawl suitable for layering or draping. The shawl features a sophisticated lace construction that creates an intricate, openwork design perfect for showcasing the yarn's characteristics.

Techniques Used

This shawl employs several key knitting techniques that define its construction and visual appeal:

• Seamless construction: The shawl is worked as one continuous piece without seaming, creating a unified fabric from cast-on to bind-off.
• Lace knitting: Charted lace patterns form the primary design element, requiring knitters to follow detailed stitch charts while maintaining pattern repeats.
• Worked flat: The shawl is knitted flat on circular needles rather than in the round, allowing for traditional row-by-row construction.
• Intentional fringe detail: Ten stitches worked in stockinette stitch are deliberately cast on and later dropped and unraveled to create fringe along the shawl edges, adding a decorative finished element.
• Strategic increases and decreases: The pattern incorporates increases during the expansion phase and decreases during the finishing phase to achieve the triangular shawl shape.

Stitches Used

The Briolette combines fundamental and decorative stitches to create its lace pattern:

• Stockinette stitch: Used for the ten-stitch border sections that frame the lace pattern and eventually form the fringe.
• Charted lace stitches: The primary design utilizes a charted lace pattern that repeats across rows, creating the openwork aesthetic characteristic of lace shawls.
• Increases and decreases: Strategic yarn overs and decreases (indicated in the chart) shape the shawl and contribute to the lace pattern's visual interest.

Materials and Tools

The Briolette pattern calls for specific materials to achieve the intended finished measurements and drape:

• Yarn: Berroco Spree in colorway #9449 Jungle, requiring 5 balls of 50 grams each. Berroco Spree is a yarn designed for versatile making projects.
• Needles: A 32-inch circular needle in size 6 (4 mm) or the size needed to obtain proper gauge.
• Gauge: 18 stitches and 25 rows equal 4 inches in the charted pattern after blocking. Achieving correct gauge is essential for accurate finished measurements.

Pattern Structure and Construction Notes

The Briolette follows a structured progression that builds the triangular shawl shape. The pattern begins with a small cast-on of 12 stitches and establishes the lace chart on the first right-side row. The shawl expands through 18 repeats of an 12-row charted section (Rows 9–20), with one stitch increased every right-side row to grow the width. After reaching maximum width at 124 stitches, the pattern transitions to a decreasing phase where stitches are reduced every right-side row until returning to 16 stitches, creating the characteristic triangular silhouette.

An important construction detail involves yarn changes: new balls should be introduced at the beginning of right-side rows so that yarn ends become incorporated into the fringe rather than creating loose ends. The ten stockinette stitches at the shawl edges are intentionally left to be dropped and unraveled after completion, creating decorative fringe along the perimeter.

Note: Measurements provided are after blocking. The shawl will stretch considerably during the blocking process, so blocking is essential to achieve the finished dimensions specified in the pattern.