Koigu Tango Glow Wrap Knitting Pattern

Koigu Tango Glow Log Cabin Shawl

What is Being Made

The Koigu Tango Glow is a seamless, top-down knitted shawl designed by Elke Schroeder. This triangular wrap features a distinctive log cabin construction method, creating a geometric striped pattern. The finished shawl measures approximately 25 inches in length and 50 inches in width, making it a generous wrap suitable for layering or draping.

Construction Technique

This shawl is worked flat using a log cabin approach, which is a popular technique for creating large, geometric shawls with minimal seaming. The construction begins with a central triangle, then alternates picking up stitches from the right and left sides of the triangle to build outward in stripes. Each stripe adds 14 stitches to the working edge, allowing the shawl to expand gradually as it grows. As the shawl increases in size, the number of rows per stripe decreases to maintain the geometric proportions of the design.

The pattern is worked top-down in a seamless manner, meaning the shawl is constructed as one continuous piece without requiring seaming. This method creates clean edges and allows knitters to try on the shawl as it develops, stopping at any desired size.

Stitches and Stitch Techniques

The Tango Glow shawl employs fundamental knitting stitches combined with shaping techniques:

• Knit stitch (k): The primary stitch used throughout the pattern
• Knit front and back (kfb): An increase technique used on right-side rows to add stitches at the beginning and near the end of each row, creating the expanding edge
• Slip stitch (sl1): Used at row edges to create a neat, finished selvage

The pattern alternates between right-side rows and wrong-side rows. Right-side rows include the increases (k1, kfb, knit to last stitch, sl1), while wrong-side rows are worked as knit stitches with a slip stitch at the end. This simple stitch combination creates the clean striped appearance characteristic of log cabin designs.

Materials and Tools

The Koigu Tango Glow is designed to be worked with Koigu KPPPM Pencil Pack Tango Glow, a hand-dyed merino wool collection. The yarn pack includes 10 demi skeins of 25 grams each, totaling approximately 870 yards of 100% Merino wool. The specific color codes included are P643, P506A, P853, P358, P204C, P601, P704, P803, P606, and P721, which comprise the lipstick and red colorway.

Knitters will need 3mm (US size 3) needles—three individual needles or circular needles measuring 40 inches in length, or needles sized to achieve the correct gauge. A tapestry needle is required for weaving in ends and finishing the shawl.

Pattern Notes

The log cabin construction creates a mathematically consistent expansion pattern. Each stripe adds exactly 14 stitches per side, maintaining balance as the shawl grows outward. As the shawl progresses through multiple stripes, the row count per stripe decreases while the stitch pickup count increases, ensuring the geometric proportions remain visually consistent. By the 11th stripe, knitters pick up 165 stitches and work only 22 rows, followed by subsequent stripes with varying row counts (18 rows, 22 rows) to complete the design.

Pattern designed by Elke Schroeder, Ontario, Canada. © Koigu™ Wool Designs. For individual, non-commercial use only.