Juniper Moon Farm Wrap Knitting Pattern

Karina Mosaic Shawl by Melissa Leapman

What is Being Made

The Karina is a mosaic shawl from the Pasadena Collection, designed by Melissa Leapman. This is a crescent-shaped wrap measuring approximately 125 x 22½ inches (317.5 x 57 centimeters) when finished and blocked. The shawl is worked in a seamless, flat construction using a distinctive mosaic pattern combined with a striped color sequence, making it an ideal accessory for layering or draping across the shoulders.

Techniques Used

The Karina employs several key knitting techniques to achieve its finished design:

• Mosaic Pattern: A two-color knitting technique that creates intricate geometric designs by slipping stitches and working with contrasting colors. The mosaic pattern in this shawl uses an 8-stitch repeat worked from charts, allowing knitters to create complex visual effects without managing multiple colors in a single row.
• Stranded 2-Color Technique: Used in the beginning rows to establish the mosaic foundation, this method involves carrying yarn colors across the row to create the initial pattern setup.
• Seamless Construction: The shawl is worked in one continuous piece without seams, creating a smooth, unified fabric.
• Worked Flat: Despite using a circular needle, the shawl is worked back and forth in rows rather than in the round, allowing for the crescent shape to develop naturally.
• Shaping Through Decreases and Yarn Overs: The shawl's distinctive crescent silhouette is created by decreasing 1 stitch at the beginning of every right-side row while working yarn overs at the opposite edge on every row, resulting in a net increase of 1 stitch every 2 rows.

Stitches Used

The Karina mosaic shawl utilizes fundamental knitting stitches combined in strategic ways:

• Knit Stitch (k): The primary stitch forming the base fabric and stockinette stitch sections.
• Stockinette Stitch (St st): Used on the edge stitches to create clean, finished edges throughout the shawl.
• Slip Stitch (sl): Worked purlwise with yarn held to the wrong side, slip stitches are essential to the mosaic pattern, allowing color changes without actually changing yarn colors on every row.
• Knit 2 Together (k2tog): A right-leaning decrease used at the beginning of right-side rows to shape the shawl into its crescent form.
• Yarn Over (yo): Used at the opposite edge to create decorative increases that balance the decreases and contribute to the shawl's expanding width.

Materials and Yarn

The Karina is designed to be worked with Juniper Moon Farm Cumulus, a premium yarn choice that showcases the mosaic pattern beautifully:

• 2 hanks (100 grams each) of Juniper Moon Farm Cumulus in color 31 Brandywine, used as the main color (MC) throughout the project
• 1 hank (100 grams) of Juniper Moon Farm Cumulus in color 17 Clumber Spaniel, used as a contrasting color (CC) in the stripe sequence
• 1 hank (100 grams) of Juniper Moon Farm Cumulus in color 20 Andean Flamingo, used as a contrasting color (CC) in the stripe sequence
• 1 hank (100 grams) of Juniper Moon Farm Cumulus in color 44 First Blush, used as a contrasting color (CC) in the stripe sequence

Needles and Gauge

A US 9 (5.5mm) circular needle measuring 32 inches (80 centimeters) long is required, or the size needed to obtain the specified gauge. The pattern notes that exact gauge is not critical to the success of this project, making it accessible to knitters with varying tension.

The target gauge is 16 stitches and 16 rows equal 4 inches (10 centimeters) when measured in the mosaic pattern and blocked. Knitters can check their gauge by casting on 26 stitches with the Clumber Spaniel yarn and working 2 complete 16-row repeats of the 8-stitch