Reconsidering The Knit Shawl. Again.
For a time, shawls were the dominant presence in knitting culture. Entire design careers were built around them. Many major pattern releases seemed to be a crescent, a half-pi, an asymmetrical triangle, or some elaborate construction that required both a lace chart and a leap of faith. Yarn companies sold fade kits expressly for shawls. Many mystery knit-alongs were shawls. Ravelry’s Hot Right Now pages reflected the trend just as clearly; shawls occupied an extraordinary amount of real estate.
Then, without announcement, the conversation moved on. Knitters who had once debated bind-off methods for crescent edges were now talking about sleeve caps and contiguous construction. The shawl didn’t disappear, but it receded, no longer the center of gravity, just one option among many.
But now, years later, the shawl appears to be returning. It has made its way onto runways for the upcoming fall and winter season. What’s coming back, though, looks almost nothing like what left.
The shawl making its return today is not a lace shawl, a fade project, or any intricate stitch pattern. It is, in most cases, either woven or, if knit, done in stockinette, a beautiful yarn, a clean edge, and nothing more asked of the knitting than to be itself. The shape does not require arrangement. It simply exists, beautiful in its natural state. It turns out that after a decade of architectural geometry and carefully engineered color transitions, a shape that simply exists feels radical.
The case for the shawl has been on full display across the Fall/Winter 2026–27 collections. Shawls appeared in a variety of forms: large woven rectangular wraps, tubular shrugs, knitted wraps, and even the return of the poncho. Some were draped over tailoring, others pinned with brooches, and still others pulled over the head as hoods. Elegant in their restraint, they reflect a broader shift toward simplicity and versatility rather than ornament.
This return feels less like a revival and more like a rediscovery. The shawl boom emerged at a moment when knitting and fashion happened to be moving in the same direction. Back in the 2010s, blanket scarves were everywhere in ready-to-wear. Knitwear designers were exploring shawls and cowls with remarkable enthusiasm. Andrea Mowry’s Find Your Fade became one of the defining patterns of the era. Jen Geigley’s Gap-Tastic Cowl accumulated tens of thousands of projects. Shawls, scarves, and cowls dominated knitting in much the same way garments have dominated the past several years. It was the right genre of knitwear at the right moment.
And although for a time shawls became the background noise to garments, they are emerging again as a main player. This time appearing on the runways first, and knitters are being reminded and perhaps, like me, reinvigorated about casting on.
Fashion and knitters have always had a reciprocal relationship, and this time is no different.
Notes
As for me, I’ve already cast on in this gorgeous yarn.
If you’re feeling inspired to cast on a shawl of your own, I’ve gathered a few other colorways that I think would be especially beautiful for simple wraps.