Berroco Cabriele Wrap Knitting Pattern

Berroco Cabriele Lace Shawl

What Is Being Made

The Berroco Cabriele is an elegant lace shawl designed by Alison Green. This intermediate-level knitting project creates a triangular wrap measuring approximately 64 inches across the top edge and 27 inches down the center, making it a versatile accessory suitable for layering or draping.

Craft and Project Type

This is a knitting project specifically categorized as a shawl and wrap. The design is worked as a seamless, top-downworked flat on circular needles rather than in the round, allowing for easy manipulation of the growing fabric.

Techniques Used

The Cabriele showcases several key knitting techniques that contribute to its sophisticated appearance:

• Lace knitting: The primary decorative technique, featuring charted lace patterns that create openwork designs throughout the shawl
• Provisional cast-on: Used to begin the project with waste yarn, allowing for a flexible starting edge
• Stitch markers: Essential for tracking pattern repeats and the center stitch as the shawl expands
• Yarn overs and decreases: These fundamental lace techniques create the openwork effects and strategic shaping
• Chart reading: The pattern uses charted instructions (Chart 1) that are repeated and expanded throughout the construction

Stitches and Stitch Patterns

The Cabriele employs a variety of essential knitting stitches to achieve its lace design:

• Knit stitch (k): Forms the stockinette base and edge borders
• Purl stitch (p): Used on wrong-side rows to maintain pattern consistency
• Yarn over (yo): Creates the characteristic holes and lacy openwork that define the pattern
• Knit two together (k2tog): A right-leaning decrease used to balance yarn overs and maintain shaping
• Slip marker (sm): Helps track the center stitch and pattern repeat sections

The pattern follows Chart 1, which is worked over multiple rows (Rows 5–16 initially, then Rows 9–16 repeated nine additional times) with increasing numbers of pattern repeats added as the shawl grows.

Materials and Gauge

The Cabriele is designed to be worked with Berroco Mantra yarn, requiring 3 balls of color #4439 Ginger (each ball weighs 50 grams). Berroco Mantra is a smooth, versatile yarn that showcases lace patterns beautifully.

The project requires a 29-inch or longer circular needle in size 6 (4.00 mm), or the size needed to obtain proper gauge. Additional notions include waste yarn for the provisional cast-on and a tapestry needle for finishing.

The recommended gauge is 20 stitches and 24 rows over 4 inches in the charted lace pattern. Checking gauge before beginning is essential to ensure the finished shawl meets the specified measurements of 64 inches across the top edge and 27 inches down the center.

Construction Overview

The shawl begins with a provisional cast-on of 8 stitches and increases systematically through yarn overs positioned on both sides of a central stitch marker. The pattern establishes increases in the first few rows, then transitions into the charted lace pattern. As you work through the chart repeats, additional pattern repeats are incorporated with each vertical repeat cycle, creating an expanding triangular shape. The final stitch count reaches 189 stitches before the finishing edge is worked.