I’ve had such a lot of fun with shawls over the years. They’re such wonderful bite-size morsels of technique and stitch wizardry and have shown an extraordinary renaissance and evolution over the last few years. Ranging from the incredibly intricate to the rugged and rustic, shawls are sometimes showy, often cozy and always a zen-like joy to knit.
Remember this disaster from January of 2012? Yikes!
Recently, I’ve been experimenting with the homey and humble variety, focusing on warmth and simplicity and letting the yarn shine through. Here are some of my favorites.
Lined with rows of delicate eyelet flowers, this simple triangular shawl is a beautifully easy accessory. Bands of drop stitch ribbing topped with a few rows of simple garter traces its way around the V-shaped edge, promising a delightful knit for new shawl knitters.
Cabana
This shape-shifting modified triangular wrap uses three engaging pattern sections, mosaic, mesh, and drop-stitch rib to create a large, snuggly wrap. Its long edge is trimmed in color and its pointy end finishes in a big fluffy tassel.
Simple and homey, this generous wrap is a dream to wrap up in. Worked as a classic triangle, the pairing of Stockinette stitch, slipped stitches, and garter-rich openwork has a wonderfully geometric firmness that is as super fun to knit.
The Garnet Wrap was inspired by the Celtic moorland, where moist turf and leaden skies brew dense, earthy fog. This lush rectangular wrap juxtaposes a deeply etched Celtic braid with simple fields of stockinette stitch. Classic ribbing touched with eyelets provides a strong yet elegant edge. This wrap is generously sized for maximum coziness and doubles as a beautiful throw.
Here are a couple from the vault! These patterns are free Ravelry downloads!
My mother was a Wilson. They were stout-hearted Scotch-Irish United Empire Loyalists who trekked northward to remain loyal to the British crown just prior to the American Revolution. As a child, I loved hearing the wooly tales of their survival in Upper Canada, so I’ve created the Wilson Wrap. This common sense wrap commemorates the early Wilsons. It is simple and warm, shaped in a long, shallow crescent and trimmed with a prim lace border.
Diamonds for Lisa is a single skein shawl with a deep, romantic, diamond patterned border. A luscious and drapey shawl, Diamonds for Lisa is the perfect project for a yarn with silk component, both for lustre and for drape. It is worked at a very open gauge and uses a half-moon shaping strategy. In a dark indigo color, it’s like wearing midnight. A rich border in the manner of a bind-off, added after shaping is complete, makes this a very interesting shawl to knit. I wrote this pattern for my friend, Lisa, who, like this wrap is mysterious and feminine without being girly. She’s an individualist and doesn’t suffer fools gladly. Here ya go, Lisa…Cheers!
A wrap is a mighty handy thing to have these days, especially if it’s light, soft and airy and worked in the pale, promising colors of spring. It’s perfect for tossing around shoulders in a chilly restaurant or outdoors inside or outside of your jacket. I’ve had a thing for chevrons recently. I love their fluid movement and the energy they produce in fabric. They remind me of the exciting geometric patterned textiles of Sonia Delaunay, Orphism, and the reckless time between the wars. Marcelle is a little tamer, a glimpse of that time viewed through a long lens.
Think I’ll dash off and cast on a shawl!
Love,
Cheryl
