Before you read anything else about this wrap, let me tell you that it’s knit entirely by joining as you go, so there are no seams and no sewing up in the whole thing. None. Not even once. Ok, onwards!

The Striad Wrap was was conceived one cold day as I sat in my knitting chair drinking a steaming cup of tea and gazing absentmindedly at a new lampshade that cleverly incorporated strips of joined-up triangles to form a globe shape. As my eyes followed the curve of those triangles, I found myself itching to pick up my needles and use the architecture of knitting to mimic their shapes. And so the Striad Wrap was born, an intriguing series of short row triangles, knit individually in strips and joined together without any seaming up, that combine to beautifully show off the amazing colours of handdyed yarn.

Designed for SpaceCadet Mini-Skeins, this stunning wrap is my favourite kind of project: created from layer upon layer of the smallest of building blocks -- each one so quick on its own but all of them together combining into an absolutely spectacular result -- it is the perfect project for any of SpaceCadet’s gorgeous colour collections, whether that’s yarn from the Mini-Skein Club, the Gradient Explorers, the Prism Break sets, or any of SpaceCadet’s gorgeous Colour Combos.

At SpaceCadet, we dye yarns for knitters who approach colour with confidence, aren’t afraid to break the “rules”, and join us to explore their creativity! Subscribers to the SpaceCadet Mini-Skein Club’s Ombre & Gradient Mix receive bundles of gradient mini-skeins that transition from one month’s colours into the next month’s colours (and into the next’s…) to create an amazing Never Ending Gradient. Designed to take full advantage of the club’s gorgeous colour flow, the Striad Wrap demonstrates that SpaceCadet’s different fingering yarns can be used together in a single project for maximum impact.

This pattern is perfect for you if:

• You love playing with colour blocking but hate intarsia and seaming (there’s no intarsia and no sewing up at all in the whole project!)
• You have a wonderful collection of SpaceCadet Mini-Skeins that you’ve been dying to cast on! Or you have a collection of coordinating yarns or project scraps and you are confident about making colour-substitution choices.
• You love the special magic created by working short rows (or at least, you don’t mind short rows in an easy-to-memorise pattern)

This pattern is not for you if:

• You don’t already have the basic knitting skills listed below (there is a nifty video demonstration in the pattern of the Join As You Go technique, but no other basic knitting tutorials)
• You are using substitute yarns but struggle to put together a colour flow on your own.

Pattern Details

Size: Sample shawl is approximately 28”/71cm wide and 84”/213cm long over 25 panels (5 months’ worth of Mini-Skeins)

Gauge: 32 stitches and 46 rows over 4”/10cm of garter stitch

Suggested Yarns: SpaceCadet Ombre&Gradient Mix Mini-Skeins: sample knit with 5 bundles of Mini-Skeins (totaling 500g over 25 mini-skeins) containing:

• Celeste (100% Superwash Merino; 490 yards/100g)
• Ester (80% Superwash Merino, 20% Nylon; 365 yards/100g)
• Oriana (90% Superwash Merino, 10% Nylon; 420 yards/100g)

Needles: US 3/3.25mm or size to obtain gauge

Skills you’ll need to have in order to make the Striad Wrap:

• casting on and binding off
• knitting and purling
• working w&t short rows
• slipping stitches
• knitting three stitches together
• working a Join As You Go edge (if this is a technique you haven’t done before, it can be little tricky at first, but is actually incredibly easy once you get the hang of it -- and if you’d prefer to see it in action, the pattern includes a simple and quick video demonstration to help you see what to do)

Are there kits?

The Striad Wrap is designed especially for the SpaceCadet’s Mini-Skein Club minis (and the adventurous club members who are on this colour journey with us!) so joining the club will build you a gorgeous gradient “kit” as you receive each monthly parcel, timed perfectly to create this epic project without feeling rushed or pressured. The sample shown here was knit in 2020’s colours and the Mini-Skein Club’s colours going forward are different, but equally beautiful.