With a garter stitch body and a two colour brioche border, this shawl is a suitable pattern for those newer to brioche, as well as an interesting knit for experienced briochers.

The shawl is a hybrid between a crescent and a triangle shape, with the central spine of a triangle but the elongated edges and gently curved border of a crescent. Knit in fingering weight yarn, this makes for an elegant and wearable shawl.

For more details about the shawl, including the shaping, you can see a video on my website.

When I name patterns I often start with a theme and then see where Wikipedia takes me. For this shawl I started out with a trident and ended up at metaphase, a stage of cell division. Don’t ask me how I got from one to the other, because I can’t remember! I stuck with Metaphase as the name of the shawl, partly because it’s an interesting sounding word and partly because the shape of chromosomes during this stage of cell division reminded me of the motif on the edge of the shawl.

Materials:
• Two colours of fingering weight yarn, approximately 400m/437yds of each.
• 3.75mm/US 5 circular needle with an 80cm/32” or longer cable.
• Optional - circular needle one size larger.
• Stitch marker(s).
• Tapestry needle to weave in ends.

Size of finished shawl:
Wingspan 208cm/83.25”, depth 60cm/24”, relaxed after blocking.

Gauge:
Obtaining gauge is not essential, as long as you are happy with the fabric you are getting. Different gauge will affect the size of the finished object and the amount of yarn used.

The sample shawl had a gauge of 16 stitches and 38 rows of garter stitch in a 10cm x 10cm/ 4” x 4” square, after blocking.

The pattern has both written instructions and charts. Stitch abbreviations and chart symbols are based on those developed by Nancy Marchant.

For pattern support, please post in the help thread in my Ravelry group or email me at leelamary.knits@gmail.com. You may also find me on Instagram as @leelamary. If you would like to hear about future pattern releases, please join my mailing list.

In case of need, this and all my patterns are available through the Fiber Community Fund.