Willow Woods Shawl Knitting Pattern by Jan Henley: A Handpaint Yarn Designer's Creation with Long Striping Wool

Willow Woods Shawl

I love long striping wool which as a handpaint yarn designer myself, I cannot replicate without difficulty. I got the idea for this pattern when walking along the banks of the Cleddau river with my dogs and looking at the way the willow branches dipped down into the water. It knits up very quickly on large 5.5mm needles and for this particular garment I chose Aade Long Wool which I purchased online via Ebay from Estonia. However you would be able to use any sockweight yarn to make it.

MATERIALS

I used approx 2o0 grams of Aade Long Wool for this from Estonia but you could use 200grams of any Woolhunter 4 ply/sockweight yarn - 400 metres approx per 100 grams. WOOLHUNTER'S TIP: It would be possible also to make this shawl in any other weight of yarn but you would need to adjust your needle size up /or down and the number of pattern repeats accordingly.

NOTIONS:

Circular Needle size 5.5 mm/Us Size 9 needles at least 24 inches in length. However if you hate circular needles like I do with a vengeance, it is possible to knit the shawl on a longer pair of straight needles but it means squishing the garment up a bit as you go along.

ABBREVIATIONS:

K2tog = Knit 2 together M1 = Make 1: Insert left needle from front to back under strand between last stitch knitted and first stitch on left needle and place on left hand needle. Knit into the back of this stitch. ssk = slip the next 2 stitches knitwise onto the right hand needle, insert left hand needle back into the stitches knit the two together. (2 stitches become one and this makes a left slanting decrease) SK2P = Slip next stitch, knit two together then pass slipped stitch over yo = yarn over needle

TENSION:

Unimportant but around 4 stitches per inch on 5.5 mm needles..

FOUNDATION ROWS:

With Metric 5.5 mm/US Size 9 needles, cast on/bind on 7 stitches loosely. Work the first 44 rows from chart given. Both halves of the shawl are identical and are mirror images of each other. When the centre stitch is reached, work the line of the chart backwards reversing all the k2 tog and ssk instructions. NB: THE CENTRE STITCH IS ONLY WORKEDONCE.

ALL EVEN NUMBERED ROWS ARE WORKED AS FOLLOWS:

Wyif sllp, k1, purl to last two stitches, k2. These rows are not shown on the chart. ROWS 45-68: Work from Chart given but noting that 11 main body stitches highlighted are worked 3 times in total. ROWS 69-82: Work as for rows 44-68 but insert a k1 stitch after the first yarn over and before the last yarn over before the centre stitch shown on the chart. (These rows will give 5 full repeats of the main pattern panel) ROWS 83-106: Work as for rows 44-68 but inserting k2 after the first yarn over and before the last yarn over before the centre stitch shown on the chart. (These rows give 7 full repeats of the main pattern panel) DO NOT CAST OFF.

Knitted on Willow Leaf Border:

Cast on 12 sts loosely and work back across these stitches following the instructions given in chart below commencing with row 1 (right side) for this border. Work a total of 30 repeats down the right hand side of the shawl. This will bring you to within 2 stitches of the centre stitch. Next work 2 joins into next stitch (Rows 1 & 3), 3 joins into the next stitch (Rows, 5, 7 & 1), 2 into the centre stitch (Rows 3 & 5), then 3 (Rows 7, 1 & 3) and 2 joins (Rows 5 & 7) respectively into next 2 stitches. This will then allow you to work a further 30 repeats of the pattern back down the left hand side of the shawl and will give a nice "eased" effect to the pattern as you turn the centre point of the shawl. Wash, block and press to the dimensions mentioned earlier in the pattern , wear and enjoy! Key to all charts:-

Willow Leaf Border Chart

Jan Henley 2011 All rights reserved

For private non-commercial use only No material in this pattern or the pattern itself may be reproduced mechanically, electronically or by any other means including photocopying without prior written permission. For queries/errata/send photos of your finished garment - please contact jan@woolhunter.com CHART FOR MAIN BODy OF LACE - Odd numbered rows only shown. Right half of shawl only shown. All even rows are worked as described in main body of pattern above and left half of shawl mirror image of right with all K2togs and ssk's reversed. Work last stitch on odd numbered rows as a knit stitch rather than wyifsl1p. The stitches within the thick red lines are the Shell Pattern repeat stitches.