Koigu Terra Starry Night over the Rhone Knitting Pattern

Koigu Terra Starry Night over the Rhone Knitted Shawl

What is Being Made

The Terra Starry Night over the Rhone is a crescent-shaped knitted shawl designed by Maria Leigh for the Koigu Pencil Box Collection. This elegant wrap features a finished measurement of 76 inches in width and 18 inches in length, making it a versatile accessory suitable for layering or draping. The crescent silhouette is achieved through strategic short-row shaping worked on either side of a central decorative cable motif.

Techniques Used

This shawl is constructed using several advanced knitting techniques that add visual interest and structural definition:

• Bottom-up construction: The shawl is worked from the foundation upward, allowing knitters to see the design develop as they progress
• Seamless, flat knitting: The entire piece is worked flat on circular needles without seaming, creating a continuous, polished fabric
• Short-row shaping: Wrap and turn techniques (w&t) are employed on both sides of the central cable to create the distinctive crescent shape
• Cable work: A single heart cable featuring a 16-stitch, 10-row repeat runs down the center of the shawl, serving as the focal point
• Striping: Color changes occur every 10 rows throughout the pattern, progressing through 10 contrasting colors (CC1 through CC10) before returning to the main color, creating a vibrant striped effect
• Decreasing techniques: Cable closing decreases (CCD) are used to shape the shawl, with a specialized stitch that reduces 4 stitches to 1 stitch, creating 3 decreases in a single maneuver

Stitches Used

The pattern employs fundamental and intermediate stitch techniques:

• Stockinette stitch (St st): Forms the primary fabric base throughout the shawl
• Knit and purl stitches: Used in combination for texture and cable definition
• Slip, slip, knit (ssk): A left-leaning decrease used for shaping
• Purl two together (P2tog): A right-leaning decrease incorporated into the pattern
• Wrap and turn (w&t): Essential for the short-row shaping that creates the crescent form
• Cable stitches: Specific cable crossing techniques as outlined in the heart cable chart, including complex maneuvers such as 3 stitches over 2, 2 over 4, and 4 over 1

Materials

The shawl is worked in Koigu KPPPM Pencil Box TERRA, a premium yarn composed of 100% Merino wool. The pattern requires 10 demi skeins of 25 grams each (87 yards or 80 meters per skein), providing approximately 870 yards of yardage total. One skein in the main color (MC, shade 1515) is needed, with additional skeins in contrasting colors for the striped sections. Knitting is worked on 3.75mm (US size 5) circular needles measuring 32 inches in length, or needles sized to achieve the specified gauge of 22 stitches and 30 rows in 4 inches over stockinette stitch after wet blocking. Additional materials include stitch markers for tracking pattern repeats and a tapestry needle for weaving in yarn ends.

Pattern Notes

The shawl begins with a cast-on of 34 stitches using the first contrasting color, followed by nine sections of 61 stitches each, separated by placed markers, and concluding with a final cast-on of 33 stitches. The heart cable pattern is introduced at Row 69 (counted as Row 1 of the cable chart). Knitters should note that the pattern includes detailed abbreviations and instructions for cable closing decreases, which are essential for achieving the intended shaping. Wet blocking after completion ensures the finished measurements and proper drape of the crescent form.