My Kentia Wrap – A Geometric Knitted Shawl – By Ambah O’Brien

Having finished my first mosaic knitted project, The Slip Love Knit shawl, I wanted to create a larger mosaic knitting shawl.

I reviewed, fact checked and updated this post on May 14, 2023.

When looking for inspiration, I found Australian designer Ambah O’Brien’s Kentia Wrap. She’d collaborated with Koigu Yarns using 10 of their Pencil Box mini skeins and one primary color. The Kentia Wrap pattern is available on Ravelry.

The colors used in Ambah’s original design are what drew me in. Blues in all its glorious shades make my heart sing. I read about the design in Ambah’s post and found Koigu had created kits in different themes.

Original – Blues, Turquoise, Aqua and the main color of cream/white

Galliano – Greens, Yellows, Orange, Whites and Browns and the main color of caramel brown.

Kingsport – Blues with main color of caramel brown

Scarlotto – Purples, Reds, Pinks and main color of pale pink

Sea Lavender – Reds, Purples, Greys and main color of pale grey

By the time I’d decided to knit the Kentia Wrap, the Australian Yarn Shops, which stocked the kits, had sold out of the Original Kit. I decided to try colors out of my comfort zone and chose the Galliano Kit.

Good news for USA & Canada/International customers, you can buy from Koigu.

I purchased the Koigu kit online from Knit Purl Sew and found Lena Dunn’s customer service excellent. She notified me of the Knit Purl Sew team winding the 50g yarn skeins before being sent and the postage schedule.

Lena recommended I hand-wind the 25g skeins.

Lena explained, “due to the 25gms skeins being so small and therefore have a larger core in proportion to the final ball, we suggest these are hand wound into balls to prevent any collapsing as you knit.”

Lena had also chosen the Galliano Kit to knit, and she was delighted with how it was turning out. One of the joys of buying yarn online is that when it finally arrives, it’s so exciting! Same as when purchasing yarns for my other shawl project and Slip Knit Love Shawl.

Getting to unwrap the parcel, seeing the colors in reality and touching the fiber. It’s a beautiful experience. Knit Purl Sew included a little chocolate treat in the package!

Koigu yarn is 100% Merino and the colors are hand painted. The main color was KPM 5313. The 10 hand painted KPPM yarns were  

• Dark Green – P560
• Multi Bright Green – P537
• Light green – P706D
• Yellow and greens- P506A
• Browns Golds – P359
• Blues Purples Browns – P310
• White with flecks of turquoise and red – P950
• White pale yellow and blue – P322
• Yellows – P646
• Oranges browns – P601

Looking at the colors in real life, I was reminded of the Australian bush. I spent a fair amount of time deciding which of five of the ten colors would be used for the mosaic sections and five of the ten for the slip stitch sections.

Here’s what Ambah O’Brien advised when choosing colors

The mosaic sections are most effective with highly contrasting colours. In my sample, I chose a light MC contrasting with dark CC. The reverse will also provide the desirable contrast. In the slip stitch section, I chose a subtle contrast of light CC with the light MC.

The slip stitch section will be effective with either a strong contrast or, as mine is, a subtle contrast between the colours. Play further with colour by incorporating a fade with your CC or a striking array of colours. Alternately, keep it simple and sophisticated with a single CC.

Choosing colors for my projects isn’t something I find simple. I look at other people’s knitted projects and am amazed at how well the colors work together.

During knitting the Kentia Wrap, I made a few changes to my original selection of what color was used for which section. Fortunately I had the right sized circulars already by Chiaogoo who are a well known brand. For more on these excellent tools read my post here.

Each color reminded me of nature. Color brings me joy.

I’m thrilled with how my Kentia Wrap has turned out and love wearing it. The texture of mosaic knitting is lovely and warm. When I wrap it around my shoulders, I feel like I’m being embraced. So much time went into this project, and it was a huge moment when I cast off the last stitch.

I haven’t blocked it yet. I think it looks okay as it is. I will eventually block my Kentia Wrap. Ambah’s pattern is very well written. The mosaic sections were easy to follow.

I used the written instructions but the pattern also provides a chart for the mosaic section. The slip stitch sections were a little faster to knit.

I thoroughly enjoyed knitting the Kentia Wrap with Koigu’s 100% merino yarn. It’s a delightful knit. Now to decide what colorwork project will be next. I used the leftover yarn to make striped socks.

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