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It started with the thought: What if contemplation isn’t idle but essential?

In a world that values never-ending and highly-optimized productivity, sitting with unfocused thoughts — letting them meander, circle back, or dissolve entirely — feels contrarian.

Contemplation is (one of) capitalism’s antithesis: it’s slow, nonlinear, and inherently “unproductive.” Yet it’s also where we dream, problem-solve, and reclaim agency over our minds.

I know this intimately. During my years of burnout and mental health struggles, my brain’s timeline shrank to surviving this hour, never mind next week. Recovery came with an unexpected gift: the return of mental space to contemplate. To think beyond immediate survival. To play with ideas again.

The Contemplation Shawl is an homage to that long and transformative journey. It features an asymmetrical triangular shape with a textured garter stitch body and winding cable borders. This design encourages you to “make each stitch sweet,” resulting in a soft, squishy fabric that rewards slow and deliberate knitting.

The shawl starts at the top tip and begins with an intercrossing cable border, which works quite well as a meditative exercise in attention and awareness (you might want to shoo others out of the room, though!).

Once this border is established, the body expands into a rhythmic garter stitch, creating that iconic textured fabric that invites the squiiiiishhhhhh ‘n’ sniff. The final ribbed edge is finished with a polished tubular bind-off, providing seamless integration to balance the shawl’s ribbed stitch flow.

As you knit: Where will your mind wander? To a creative project left dormant? A boundary that needs guarding? A dream you’ve been too busy to water?

Protect that time fiercely. It’s your sacred space of agency and autonomy.

The free version is available on my blog, The Practice of Fibre. The PDF version of the pattern is available for purchase on Ravelry. Use the special code UNTANGLE10 to get 10% off the pattern this weekend only!

There’s something magical about a pattern that challenges you just enough while still feeling like a meditation. That’s exactly what I aimed for with the Puiaki Shawl — now available as a free gift for you.

This one-skein wonder (just 400-450yds of fingering weight!) features:

✔ A Japanese-inspired lace border adapted from Hitomi Shida’s exquisite stitch dictionary — those delicate twists and clusters create texture that will catch everyone’s eye
✔ Soothing short row shaping that builds the crescent naturally as you knit
✔ Perfect for when you’re on the go and want to take knitting with you.
✔ That one-skein wonder in your stash? Now could be the perfect time to use it!

Puiaki is Te Reo Māori for treasure, precious. Inspired by the Māori proverb “Whaia te iti kahurangi ki te tuahu koe me he maunga teitei” (“Aim for the highest cloud so that if you miss it, you will land upon a lofty mountain”), this pattern reminds us that these challenging stitches, like aspirations, naturally lead to rewarding destinations. Whether kept as a personal treasure or gifted to someone special, each Puiaki Shawl carries the quiet intention of handmade meaning.

You can access the pattern on my blog, The Practice of Fibre, and download it for free!