12 Fun Top-Down Triangle Shawl Knitting Patterns

Top-down triangle shawl knitting patterns are one of the most popular patterns – for good reason. Shawls are fun to knit and come in such a wide variety of colors and stitch patterns and you don’t have to worry about gauge like you would with a fitted sweater. The twelve patterns here are a great way to give this triangle shawl construction method a try:

Grain by Tin Can Knits
Barley Water by Melanie Rice
Scottish Highlands by Kay Hopkins
Cowboys & Angels by Isabell Kraemer
Zilver by Lisa Mutch
Half Life by Lisa Nelkin
What the Fade by Andrea Mowry
Always in My Heart by Isabell Kraemer
Spark of Grey by Melanie Berg
Mauvelous by Lesley Robinson
A Girl’s Best Friend by Isabell Kraemer
The Golden Hour by Andrea Mowry

Top-down triangle shawls begin with just a few stitches (and sometimes a Garter-tab, which is used to fill in the empty space at the very center of the cast-on edge) and increases are worked at both edges and along a central ‘spine’. But other than that, the sky is the limit. There is so much you can do with this shawl shape that each shawl you knit would have the same shape but still look completely different.

The twelve patterns below demonstrate the versatility that is inherent in top-down triangle shawls – choose for color, lace, slipped-stitches, and more with these patterns. You’ll also find recommended yarn with each pattern so you can choose your favorite top-down triangle shawl knitting pattern, buy some yarn, and start knitting!

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Grain

Grain by Tin Can Knits is a perfect introduction to top-down shawl knitting. It’s worked in solid color stripes (knit in Garter stitch with yarn overs for the increases), includes some great informational tutorials for those who are new to this type of shawl knitting, and it’s easy to customize and change the colors and width of the stripes for a truly unique but simple shawl.

Get the pattern: Grain

Recommended yarn: Cascade 220

Barley Water

Barley Water by Melanie Rice is also worked in simple Garter stitch (knit every row), a subtle single-stitch spine, and is finished by working a simple lace border (which includes both charted and full written instructions). The designer intended this shawl to be used with any weight of yarn that you had in your stash. Since it’s worked in Garter stitch that is easy to do – you’ll just have to make sure your stitch count will work with the lace border.

Get the pattern: Barley Water

Recommended yarn: Plymouth Yarns Baby Alpaca DK

Scottish Highlands

Scottish Highlands by Kay Hopkins is part of her Celtic Shawl Collection. It’s worked in two contrasting colors (and the designer recommends you stash-dive to find a complementary color for the optional eyelet rows and lace border). She even includes some optional design choices so you can really personalize your shawl. The sample shawl includes eyelet rows and lace edging worked in a contrasting color.

Get the pattern: Scottish Highlands

Recommended yarn: Malabrigo Sock

Cowboys & Angels

Cowboys & Angels, designed by Isabell Kraemer, is worked in Garter stitch, with a trellis pattern and bobbles. The Garter stitch makes it simple and the stitch pattern and bobbles give it a little more interest. If you like texture instead of lots of color or lace, this is a great choice. It’s still easy knitting with some additional fun with the textured pattern.

Get the pattern: Cowboys & Angels

Recommended yarn: The Yarn Collective Bloomsbury DK

Zilver

Zilver by Lisa Mutch is a good choice if you prefer Stockinette for the body of the shawl instead of Garter stitch. It also includes a single spine stitch and an interesting textured panel that is repeated between bands of Stockinette stitch. This is a lovely pattern for highlighting a special hand-dyed skein of fingering-weight yarn.

Get the pattern: Zilver

Recommended yarn: The Yarn Collective Fleurville 4-Ply

Half Life

Half Life, designed by Laura Nelkin, is an all-over lace design with options for knitting in three different yarn weights (fingering, light fingering, and lace weight yarns). It’s a double-sided lace design that seamlessly flows from one section to the next. The lace designs included both written instructions and charts.

Get the pattern: Half Life

Recommended yarn: Debbie Bliss Rialto Lace

What the Fade

What the Fade, one of Andrea Mowry’s hugely popular fade patterns, is her fading technique applied to the top-down shawl knitting construction. With six different colors, you can really have fun with this shawl, fading from one color to the next. But, instead of basic Garter stitch or Stockinette, you’ll work this shawl in two-color brioche (which is NOT hard to do) – and Garter stitch too. This shawl is a great way to learn that technique if you’re new to it. It’s an oversized shawl that’s great for wrapping up in and includes fun tassels as well.

Get the pattern: What the Fade

Recommended yarn: Koigu Painters Palette Premium Merino

Always in My Heart

Always in my Heart, a design by Isabell Kraemer is an interesting textured shawl worked in two contrasting colors. The top part of the shawl is worked in Stockinette with eyelets for interest. Then you add your second color and work a fun, simple, two-color pattern. Then, the first color is set aside, and you finish off the shawl by working a wide knit-purl rib pattern that, when blocked, looks like a wide ruffle.

Get the pattern: Always in My Heart

Recommended yarn: Malabrigo Rios

Spark of Grey

Spark of Grey, from the popular shawl designer Melanie Berg, is a textured, two-color design. It’s a simple, slipped-stitch pattern worked in two colors for most of the shawl. Then a wide ribbed border finished the design – and looks like a pretty ruffle. It’s a really fun design (and a great way to give slip-stitch colorwork a try).

Get the pattern: Spark of Grey

Recommended yarn: Rowan Baby Cashsoft Merino

Mauvelous

Mauvelous by Lesley Robinson is worked in three colors of fingering-weight yarn. You’ll work stripes, Garter stitch medallions, and two-color brioche zig zags. It begins with Garter stitch, then the medallions are worked on a background of Garter stitch, after this you add the second color in the two-color brioche section. Alternate the colors again and introduce the final color in another brioche section and the brioche edging. The pattern includes both written and charted instructions.

Get the pattern: Mauvelous

Recommended yarn: Manos del Uruguay Silk Blend Fino

A Girl’s Best Friend

A Girl’s Best Friend, another fabulous design by Isabell Kraemer, is a textured shawl worked in three colors. The shawl begins with a section of Stockinette and textured bands worked in one color. After working a small Garter ridge in the second color, introduce the third color for the lace textured section. After working a few more colors and another lace textured section, finish with a 3×1 section of rib. For a bit more fun, pompoms are added as a finishing touch.

Get the pattern: A Girl’s Best Friend

Recommended yarn: Manos del Uruguay Silk Blend Fino

The Golden Hour

Another Andrea Mowry design, The Golden Hour, uses a variety of techniques for an interesting knit. There’s mosaic knitting, eyelet, bobbles, and a picot bind off. Combine your favorite colors (three colors are used in the sample shawls) in worsted weight yarn and have fun with all the techniques you’ll use while knitting this pattern.

Get the pattern: The Golden Hour