Bold. Fun. Quirky. Sassy. Designed for a good cause. Allow me to introduce you to The Pointers. With simple textures and eyelets that allow bold colours to shine, The Pointers was designed to make the most of your #titsoutcollective colours. Grab a skein or two of that speckled yarn you’ve been eyeing – it’ll look great as the main colour of this shawl or as an eye-catching contrast colour for the woven dots and picot edging. Prefer neturals? The Pointers has classic elements, which means you can pair any colours that speak to you for this pattern. Ultimately, The Pointers is designed in the name of empowerment and that should support us all feeling free to make what speaks to us. Go make what your heart desires in the colours you love and wear it with pride. Be uniquely you and don’t apologise for it. That’s what The Pointers is all about.

The Pointers takes a traditional triangle knitted shawl and subverts it with some modern twists: a heart shape that creates beautiful curled tips and a picot edging with attitude. Worked from the top down, this pattern comes with a support video to cover all the techniques required and is suitable for intermediate knitters and adventurous beginners. This is my contribution to the #titsoutcollective. What does that mean? 40% of what you pay for the pattern (excluding tax amounts) goes to Women’s Refuge New Zealand. Forever.

I understand that some people may have conflicted feelings about the #titsoutcollective name for myriad reasons that I won’t even try to cover. Life is complicated. My view and the reason I chose to take part is simple – I believe in fair and equal treatment for all people and that this is something for which we should strive. I believe in caring for others and giving back. I respect the amazing social movement that the Countess has created and I wanted to be a small part of it. I know I’m late to the party (I had to design something), but here it is. The beautiful yarns I used for the sample were part of my collaboration with Nana Cindy on this pattern and are her colours for the #titsoutcollective.

Gauge is not crucial for this project, though it will change the final dimensions and yarn usage.

Needles & notions
4.5mm circular needles long enough to hold 386 stitches (recommended 150cm length)
4 stitch markers
Yarn needle
Optional but recommended: yarn scales and blocking wires

Yarn required
Double Knit / 8-ply.
Sample shown in Nana Cindy Lush DK (100% NZ Superwash Merino) 225m (246 yards) / 100g in “If I Wanted Exposure I’d Get My Tits Out – Nana’s Nipples” (MC, 150g/340m/372 yards) and “If I Wanted Exposure I’d Get My Tits Out – Purple Nurple” (CC, 100g/225m/246 yards)

Knitter beware: the meterage/yardage on the yarn used for the sample is a bit longer than a lot of Double Knit / 8-ply yarns. The required amounts include a 10% margin above what was used for the sample, but it is worth noting when planning yarn for this project. The bind off is particularly yarn hungry, but the pattern contains notes about the total number of picots, the yarn usage in the sample and a tip to decrease the size of the picot if necessary. If you want to be sure that you can bind off in the CC as per the sample shown, you may want to allow a bit of extra yarn to be safe.