Quite a few years I splurged and got myself the Haapsalu Shawl Book. It’s a beautiful stitch dictionary/Estonian knitting history book. It’s one of my very favorites. And I’ve been meaning to take a stitch pattern from that book, replace the nupps with beads, and make a lovely shawlette for as long as I’ve owned it. Finally it’s done!

I am not a big nupp fan. I find them fiddly, and I rarely think the result is worth the effort. Your mileage may vary of course. Some folks adore nupps. Not me. But beads… swoon. Why I haven’t designed with beads yet is beyond me. Really. Why haven’t I? I definitely need more beads in my life.

Brindille is the French word for twig. And the patterning is of course one of the Estonian twig patterns. Why are words in other languages so much lovelier? If I named this pattern “twig” it would just be odd. And slightly guttural sounding. But Brindille sounds very fancy. And fancy it is!

This shawlette is worked asymmetrically – from tip to side edge in Sincere Sheep‘s Agleam yarn in Cumulus. It’s a superwash merino/tencel blend that has an amazingly soft hand and a luminous sheen. The beads are 6/0 seed beads procured from AC Moore in a flat amethyst colorway. They were applied using a fishing line method by the sample knitter, but the pattern calls for a tiny crochet hook – which is how I prefer to do it. You can even string the beads if you like – it’s up to you!

Needles: Size 6 needles (4.0 mm)
Yarn: Sincere Sheep Agleam in the Cumulus Colorway – 412 yards to 4 oz.
Gauge: 20 stitches and 24 rows = 4 inches in blocked stockinette
Size: Approximately 42″ wide and 24″ deep

Brindille is available on Ravelry for $6.00 USD!