Shurei is a piece that’s all about detail. The garter stitch body, knit in a neutral color, allows the cabled spine and corrugated ribbing to shine in 2 high contrast colors.Rather than put the ribbing at the bottom of the shawl, I chose to let it go where it wanted, which turned out to be along the top edge. It adds a nice pop of color near the face and draws attention to the cable. This shawl is worked using the intarsia method, which isn’t really that difficult, but you will be working with 4 skeins of yarn through the body and 6 in the ribbing, so bobbins might be useful, unless you’re like me and prefer a challenge.

Finished size: approximately 62” width and 19” length down the spine, though size is easily adjustable. If you want a wider/deeper shawl, you will need more yarn, so please plan accordingly.

Gauge: 16 sts and 34 rows=4” in garter stitch, blocked. You can get more aggressive, if you like. Gauge is not crucial for this piece, but a different gauge will affect your yarn needs, so again, please plan accordingly.

Materials: 1 US size 9/5.5 mm needle, 32” circular or longer for accommodating the large number of sts, sewing needle, cable needle, bobbins (bobbins are optional).

Yarn: Sample shown used 2 skeins of The Plucky Knitter Snug Worsted for the body (1 on each side of the cable) and 1 skein each of Malabrigo Rios in colors Valentina and Fucsia for the cable and corrugated ribbing. If you prefer to use different yarns, you will need approximately 460 yards of color A (for the body) and approximately 100 yards each of colors B and C (for the cable and ribbing). I went with a neutral and 2 high-contrast solids, but you can use whatever floats your boat!

While I don’t consider intarsia and cables difficult concepts, every knitter has their own comfort level for techniques. As such, I would consider this at least an intermediate-level project and would not recommend it to someone who hasn’t yet worked with multiple colors. Of course, you know your comfort level better than I do, so if you feel like a challenge, go for it!