Belinda Wrap

The experiment: what happens if you knit an openwork grid in one direction, then pick up along the edges and knit the same pattern in the other direction, and then overlap the layers? The discovery: you get plaid, or something very nearly like plaid, in the form of the Belinda Wrap.

Knit in two shades of laceweight silk-mohair blend yarn, the Belinda Wrap is light as air and warm as toast. It’s a striking and glamorous accessory if you want it to be, or a cloud of warmth to cram around your neck on a cold day. Mohair isn’t the only yarn that works for the Belinda Wrap.

For a big birthday, Ann knit Kay a custom Belinda Wrap, using two of Kay’s favorite yarns, Euroflax Sport Weight (100 percent linen) and Handmaiden Fine Yarn Sea Silk (70 percent silk and 30 percent cellulose). The heavier weight of these yarns gave Kay’s Belinda Wrap superlative swing and drape. If you change up the yarns for your Belinda Wrap, make sure to choose a needle size that is large enough to give the stitch pattern a visibly open quality.

A word of warning about the Belinda Wrap: no one can resist taking close-up photos of the Plaid Effect. Check out Ravelry if you’re not willing to take our word on this.