The Nest Box Shawl pattern was originally inspired by 2023 Advent theme, Rockin’ Robin. A cosy little nest box for Robins to make a home. However, I have now expanded the pattern into a blanket, which I have called the Popstars / Nest box blanket.

The boxes and stars are constructed from diamonds edged with Icord to give a nice neat finish. Lots of garter stitch makes it a relaxing knit. As each shape is knitted as a separate unit it makes the project very portable and great for on the go knitting!

This shawl/blanket is a great way of using your Advent minis, or a fantastic stash buster for all those leftover yarns. Each diamond is designed to use just under 10g of fingering weight yarn or 15g of DK yarn. You can also knit it with just 3 colours for a more coordinated look. The pattern includes printable colouring charts so you can plan your colour placement.

Diamonds can be joined using a sewing technique described in the pattern or by double crochet (UK terms). I have YouTube video tutorials on how to join the diamonds, how to knit the Icord cast on, pick up stitches and how to Kitchener the Icord together to finish.

Blanket sizes: 56 x 75 inches or 144 x 190cm for the Nest box layout and 60 x 70 inches or 144 x 176cm for the popstars layout. Shawl size wingspan Approx. 64 inches / 162cm.

Requirements
For the 24 diamond shawl you need 12 x 20g or 24 x 10g fingering (4 ply) weight yarn or 24 x 20g DK yarn minis. For the 30 diamond shawl you need 30 x 10g or 15 x 20g fingering (4 ply) weight yarn or 30 x 20g DK yarn minis. Alternatively you could use 3 colours: 100g (200g) of each of 3 colours for fingering weight (DK) yarn. This is adequate for either version.

For the 3D box layout blanket you will need a total of 1260g 4ply or 1890g DK weight yarn. For a 3 colour version you will need 440g 4ply or 660g DK weight yarn of each colour. For the star layout blanket you will need a total of 1600g 4ply or 2400g DK weight yarn. For a 3 colour version of the star layout you will need 360g of 4ply or 540g DK weight yarn for each of the 2 star colours (pink in the diagram), and 890g 4ply or 1340g DK of your background colour. Each diamond is designed to use 10g of fingering weight yarn or 15g of DK yarn so if you are making up your own colour scheme you can calculate the yarn you need by multiplying the number of diamonds by 10g (4ply) or 15g (DK).

3.5 mm / US 4 needles for fingering (4 ply) weight yarn and 5.5mm / US 9 for DK weight yarn (I recommend using circular needles or 2 DPNs with needle stoppers).

Progress keepers to mark the right side of your work (you will need 24 if you are making the shawl, and more if making a blanket). Tapestry needle for joining and weaving in ends. Optional: 3.5mm / US E (5.5mm / US I) crochet hook to join instead of the sewn method.

Gauge
Garter stitch 6 (5) stitches per inch, 12 (8) rows per inch. It is more important that you are happy with the texture and feel of the fabric than meeting this gauge exactly. Although it is important to ensure that on your first diamond you are not using more than 10g 4ply (20g for DK) yarn as you may run out of yarn if you are using a 4ply 10g (20g for DK) advent. Go down a needle size (3.25mm / US 3 for 4ply or 5mm / US 8 for DK) if you run out of yarn or are close to running out of yarn on your first diamond.