My Xerophyte shawl has just been published in Making's DESERT issue!

Xerophyte is a generously-sized crescent shawl with contrasting textures inspired by desert plants. The name comes from the botanical term for plants which have the ability to conserve or store water, for example cacti and succulents.

The shawl is knit from the top down, beginning with a garter tab cast on. The first part of the shawl is scattered with mini-bobbles, which are simple to work and don’t require any turning, and echo the prickle-studded lobes of prickly pear cacti. The shawl’s border begins with rows of shaping to create gentle scallops, whose softly rounded shapes contrast with the crisp geometry of the twisted-ribbing.

I knit my sample using two skeins of beautiful botanically-dyed yarn by A Verb For Keeping Warm. Floating is a dreamy, drapey blend of 70% superfine alpaca, 20% silk, and 10% cashmere. The shade I used is called Lamb’s Ear, a very subtle sage colour which changes with the light.

Xerophyte shawl features:

• a crescent-shaped shawl, knit from the top down

• dotted with simple one-row mini-bobbles edged with a scalloped border in twisted ribbing

• one size, with 85½" [217 cm] wingspan and 16½" [42 cm] depth at centre

• requires two skeins of fingering-weight yarn (shown in A Verb For Keeping Warm's Floating), and 12 stitch markers for the border

• pattern includes written instructions only, no charts.

Find out more about my Xerophyte shawl pattern, including Ravelry and Payhip purchase options. You can also pick up a copy of the magazine from a local yarn shop, or order one here from Making's website.