Years ago, when I quit my daytime job to take my side hustle full time as a freelance writer and business coach, I listened to the song “Counting Stars” by OneRepublic on repeat. “Lately, I’ve been, I’ve been losing sleep; dreaming about the things that we could be”… I love that song, it’s been my theme song for many life-changing events since then.

My love for knitting goes back even further, to my childhood in Germany, where I learned to knit when I was seven years old. Knitting has {mostly} been a constant companion all my life, and I decided to start a new chapter by creating my first knitwear design. I love textures, a little bit of lace, non-superwash yarn, shawls, embroidering, and stars - throw that all together, and the Counting Stars Shawl was born.

How could it be called anything else?

Construction
The Counting Stars Shawl is an asymmetrical triangular shawl, knit flat from tip to edge, slowly increasing in sections 1 and 2 and fanning out in section 3. Twisted ribs run across the shawl, 160 stars are embroidered at the end of each twisted rib.

Yarn and Yardage 
For shawl: Tanis Fiber Arts Highland DK 100 g (3.5 oz) / 246 yds (225 m); 100% Peruvian Highland Wool - merino/corriedale blend, untreated; DK weight in Retro; 4 skeins, 350 g, 860 yds (786 m) used for sample. 
For embroidered stars: Tanis Fiber Arts Organic Merino Capsule Collection Minis 20 g (0.75 oz) / 95 yds (87 m); 100% organic merino, untreated; fingering weight in Cloudless, Flamingo, Mossy, and Goldenrod; 5 g, 20 yds (18 m) of each used for the sample.

Both yarns mentioned above are used for the shawl, DK weight for the shawl body, fingering weight for embroidering stars. The total yardage of 860 yards mentioned refers only to the shawl body and does not include the fingering weight for embroidering stars (about 80 yards needed).

Needles and Notions
US6 / 4 mm circular needles, 32” / 80cm length recommended; cable needle; tapestry needle for embroidering and weaving in ends.

Gauge
22 sts and 28 rows after blocking = 4” / 10cm. Gauge is not crucial for this project but will affect size and yardage requirements.

Notes

• A photo tutorial for embroidering stars is included in the pattern, a video tutorial can be found here.

• I used untreated fingering yarn to embroider the stars, double stitched, 18” of yarn per star. I weaved in the ends with duplicate stitch. I tried leftovers of superwash yarn at first, but it seemed too slippery to get good grip in the shawl. See what works best for you with the main yarn you’re using!

• Take the time to read through the entire pattern before starting - only section 3 has repeats that apply to the whole width of the shawl, sections 1 and 2 are random.

• This pattern has been tech edited.