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Pearled Frost Shawl. Photo © Melanie Rice
Pearled Frost by Melanie Rice is a striking triangular shawl knitting pattern featuring an unusual textured stitch motif that creates a beautifully sculpted surface.
Worked in worsted-weight yarn, this is a substantial shawl with plenty of texture and visual interest. The pattern includes both charted and fully written instructions, allowing knitters to choose the format they prefer.
Availability update: Pearled Frost has previously been shared online as a free-pattern recommendation, including on this older Amazing Knitting page. The pattern is currently listed as a paid pattern, so we have updated this guide to reflect its present availability.
The defining feature of Pearled Frost is its distinctive texture. Rather than relying primarily on color changes, the design creates visual interest through the knitted fabric itself.
Repeating raised motifs form strong lines across the triangular shawl, giving the finished piece a sculptural appearance that is especially effective in a solid or gently tonal yarn.
This makes Pearled Frost a good example of how stitch manipulation can transform a relatively simple yarn into a highly decorative fabric.
Pearled Frost is designed for worsted-weight yarn, making it heavier and cozier than many shawls worked with traditional fingering-weight yarn.
Approximately 700 yards are listed for the design. When choosing a substitute yarn, compare both yarn weight and total yardage rather than relying only on the number of skeins.
A smooth yarn can be particularly useful for this pattern because it allows the distinctive surface texture to remain clearly visible.
Because texture is the star of this shawl, yarn choice can make a noticeable difference to the finished result.
Solid and tonal colors are excellent choices when you want the stitch pattern to stand out strongly. Very busy variegated yarns may compete visually with the textured motifs.
Wool and wool-blend worsted yarns can also provide useful stitch definition while producing a warm finished shawl.
The pattern lists US 8 (5 mm) needles and a gauge of approximately 20 stitches per 4 inches (10 cm).
As with most shawls, achieving a fabric you like is important. However, gauge still affects the finished dimensions and the amount of yarn you will need.
Melanie Rice includes a gauge-swatch section in the pattern, which is particularly useful for becoming familiar with the stitch pattern before beginning the full shawl.
Pearled Frost provides the stitch pattern in both charted and fully written form.
This is helpful for knitters who strongly prefer one method of following a pattern over the other.
Charts provide a visual representation of how the motifs develop across the fabric, while written instructions allow each row to be followed step by step.
Pearled Frost is more involved than a basic garter-stitch shawl. Its appeal comes from the repeated textured motifs that build across the fabric.
Wrong-side rows still contain some patterning, so this is a project that rewards paying attention to your place in the repeat rather than assuming every wrong-side row is simply purled or knitted.
A row counter can be useful for keeping track of progress through the repeating sections.
Knitters working this design should be comfortable with, or ready to practice:
Pearled Frost is better suited to a knitter who already feels comfortable with the basic knit and purl stitches and is ready for a project that requires more concentration.
The shawl's textured motifs are the main attraction, but they also mean that careful row tracking is more important than it would be in a plain stockinette or garter-stitch shawl.
The included gauge-swatch instructions provide a useful opportunity to practice the stitch pattern on a smaller piece before committing to the full project.
A simple row counter is particularly useful for a patterned shawl such as Pearled Frost.
Marking completed rows as you work can make it much easier to return to the project after a break without losing your position in the repeat.
You may also find it helpful to highlight or mark each completed row on the written instructions or chart.
Lifelines can provide extra security when working unfamiliar textured stitch patterns.
After completing a section correctly, thread a contrasting strand through the live stitches without disturbing them. If a mistake appears later, the lifeline gives you a known safe row to return to.
This can be especially helpful as the shawl grows and the rows become longer.
A swatch does more than check gauge for Pearled Frost.
It also lets you learn how the textured motif is formed, see whether your chosen yarn provides enough stitch definition, and observe how the fabric changes after washing.
If the motif disappears in a very fuzzy or highly variegated yarn, you can change yarn or needle size before investing many hours in the full shawl.
Blocking helps settle the stitches and reveal the structure of the finished fabric.
Follow a blocking method appropriate for the fiber content of your yarn, and avoid stretching the texture so aggressively that the raised motifs become flattened.
Allow the shawl to dry completely before removing pins or moving it from the blocking surface.
Melanie Rice later designed another shawl called Sand Frost in response to knitters who liked the stitch pattern used in Pearled Frost.
Sand Frost is a separate design. It uses the related stitch motif but was created with greater flexibility in yarn weight and sizing and uses a different construction.
If you encounter both names while searching, remember that Pearled Frost and Sand Frost are not the same pattern.
Pearled Frost demonstrates that a shawl does not need elaborate colorwork to make a strong visual statement.
Using a single color allows light and shadow across the raised stitch pattern to create much of the visual effect.
This can make the design particularly attractive when you have a beautiful worsted-weight yarn whose texture and color you want to showcase.
Pearled Frost is a good choice for knitters who enjoy projects where the knitting process itself creates the decoration.
The combination of worsted-weight yarn, triangular shaping and strong textured motifs produces a substantial shawl that can be both practical and visually distinctive.
Written and charted instructions also make it possible to follow the stitch pattern using whichever format works best for you.
Pearled Frost by Melanie Rice is currently available as a paid digital knitting pattern.
View the Pearled Frost Shawl Pattern →
Pattern availability and pricing can change over time. Amazing Knitting does not reproduce or distribute the designer's copyrighted pattern instructions.
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| Photos above © Lisa R. Myers |
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Looking for a playful hooded baby and child knitting pattern? The design shown here is Duck Soup by annypurls, a clever nearly seamless jacket with a distinctive knotted hood, decorative i-cord closures, and generous sizing designed to give growing children extra wear.
Originally published in 2008, Duck Soup combines practical construction with whimsical details. It can be worn first as a roomy little coat and later as a more fitted cardigan as the child grows.
Pattern: Duck Soup
Designer: annypurls
Craft: Knitting
Category: Baby / Child Hooded Jacket
Construction: Top-down and nearly seamless
Yarn Weight: Bulky
Gauge: 16 stitches and 24 rows = 4 inches in stockinette
Main Needle Size: US 8 / 5.0 mm
Additional Needle Size: US 2 / 2.75 mm
Yardage: Approximately 400–900 yards (366–823 m)
Sizes: 3 months to 4/5 years
Pattern Availability: Paid pattern
Duck Soup is a hooded jacket designed by annypurls for babies, toddlers, and young children. The pattern stands out because of its playful knotted hood and handmade i-cord closures.
The jacket is worked mostly back and forth on a circular needle, while the sleeves are knitted in the round. This keeps seaming to a minimum and gives the finished garment a clean construction.
One of the most interesting features of Duck Soup is its generous fit. The design was intentionally created so that a child could wear it in more than one way as they grow.
It can begin as a roomy three-quarter-length coat with folded cuffs and a folded hood brim. Later, those sections can be unfolded so the same garment works more like a fitted cardigan.
That makes this pattern especially appealing for knitters who want to put time into a handmade garment that can be worn for more than a very short baby-size window.
The current Ravelry listing includes the following sizes:
Always check the original pattern page before choosing a size, since the designer's current listing is the authoritative source for measurements and construction details.
The jacket is designed primarily for bulky-weight yarn. The original samples used Classic Elite Yarns Countess for the main garment.
Depending on size, the listed total yarn requirement is approximately:
400–900 yards (366–823 meters)
Small amounts of contrasting yarn can also be used for the decorative i-cord closures, making this a nice project for adding colorful accents.
The published main gauge is:
16 stitches × 24 rows = 4 inches in stockinette stitch
The listing includes US 8 / 5.0 mm needles for the main bulky-weight fabric and US 2 / 2.75 mm for smaller details.
Row gauge is especially important in this design because it affects the depth of the armholes and the overall fit.
The details are what make Duck Soup memorable. Instead of a conventional hood, the design finishes with a playful knot at the top.
The front uses knotted i-cord buttons together with i-cord loops, creating decorative frog-style closures rather than standard buttons.
The original pattern also includes a photo tutorial for making these closures.
Duck Soup is worked top-down and is described as nearly seamless. Depending on your experience, the project may involve:
The combination makes it more involved than a very basic baby cardigan, but also gives the finished jacket much more character.
No. The Duck Soup pattern by annypurls is currently a paid pattern on Ravelry.
At the time this Amazing Knitting page was originally created, availability or external links may have been presented differently. We now direct readers to the designer's current Ravelry listing so they can see the latest price and availability.
Amazing Knitting does not reproduce the designer's copyrighted knitting instructions.
Visit the original Ravelry page to see the current pattern details, price, sizing information, designer notes, and purchase options.
Pattern credit: Duck Soup was designed by annypurls. Pattern price, availability, sizing, and technical details are controlled by the designer and may change over time.
Explore more baby hoodie knitting patterns, baby cardigan knitting patterns, and child sweater knitting patterns from the Amazing Knitting archive.
Check the original Ravelry listing before buying yarn or beginning the project so you can confirm the current price, size information, materials, gauge, and any pattern updates from the designer.
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