Frankie's Knitted Stuff
Glory Shawl
This triangular shawl is made up of strips of diagonal garter stitch squares which are joined as you go. There is no sewing up to do and you never have more than 31 sts on your needles. I knitted my shawl in Mini Mochi yarn (180m / 50g), shade 101 - a truly glorious colour.
Tension
11sts and 22 rows = 5cm / 2"2, worked in garter stitch on 4mm / US size 6 needles using 4 ply yarn. I used 300g Mini Mochi for my shawl which measures about 177cm wide and 83cm deep (69" x 33"). The shawl is knitted in vertical strips, beginning at one side and ending at the other. This should become clearer as we go along! Begin by casting on 1 st and then knitting into the front and back of it (2 sts). Next row: Kf&b, K to end. Repeat this row until you have 5 sts on your needle. Next row: K1, kf&b, K to end. Repeat this row until you have 31sts on your needle. That's the first triangle done. Now you have to knit a square next to it.
To join the square to the triangle already knitted you will pick up and knit a stitch from the edge of the triangle at the end of every other row. These stitches should be picked up from the end of the next ridge of garter stitch (those who have knitted any of my Ten Stitch patterns will be very familiar with this). So, cast off until you have just one stitch left. Next row: Kf&b, pick up and K 1. Next row: Knit. Next row: K1, kf&b, K to end, pick up and K 1 (5 sts). Next row: Knit. Repeat these last two rows until you are back up to 31 sts, ending with a knit row.
Next row: Knit. Next row: K1, SSK, K to end. Repeat this last row until you have 3 sts on your needle. Now work a double decrease cast off: sl 1 kwise, K2tog and psso.
Darn in the cast on end but leave the cast off end for the time being. That's the first double strip knitted, beginning at the bottom, working up to the neck edge of the shawl and back down again. You will be working double strips like this until you get to the centre of the shawl, each one deeper than the last. The next double strip is started with a square, the first half of which is unjoined. Cast on 1 st and knit into the front and back of it. Next row: Kf&b, K to end. Repeat this row until you have 5 sts on your needle. Next row: K1, kf&b, K to end. Repeat this row until you have 31sts on your needle. Next row: Knit. Now you have to join this square to the bottom square of the last strip. The first joining stitch should be picked up from the end of the 3 st ridge just above the cast off end of yarn. Next row: K1, SSK, K to last 2 sts, K2tog, pick up and K1. Next row: SSK, K to end. Repeat these two rows until you are down to 3sts. Next row: Sl 1 kwise, K2tog, psso, pick up and K1. Next row: Knit.
Now work a triangle to fill in that gap at the top of the strip. Next row: K2, pick up and K1. Next row: Knit. Next row: K1, kf&b, K to end, pick up and K1. Next row: Knit. Repeat the last two rows until you have 29 sts on your needle. Next row: K1, kf&b, K to end, pick up and K1 (31 sts).
This last stitch will be picked up from the end of the cast off edge of the previous triangle. Now cast off down to 1 stitch, ready to work the next strip downwards. Next row: Kf&b, pick up and K1. Next row: Knit. Next row: K1, kf&b, K to end, pick up and K1. Next row: Knit. Repeat the last two rows until you are back up to 31 sts, ending with a knit row.
Next row: Next row: K1, SSK, K to last 2 sts, K2tog, pick up and K1. SSK, K to end. Repeat these two rows until you have 3sts left, ending with a knit row.
Next row: Next row: Next row: Next row: Next row: Next row: S1 1 kwise, K2tog, psso, pick up and K1. Knit. K2, pick up and K1. Knit. K1, kf&b, K to end, pick up and K1. Knit. Repeat the last two rows until you have 31 sts on your needle, ending with a knit row.
Next row: Knit. Next row: K1, SSK, K to end. Repeat this last row until you are back to 3 sts. Now work a double decrease cast off: sl 1 kwise, K2tog and psso. Darn in the ends but, again, leave the last cast off end for the time being. That's the second double strip knitted.
Continue adding two strips at a time in exactly the same way until you have worked five double strips in all. There will be ten sections along the diagonal at this point and the last row will consist of five whole squares.
Begin the next double strip at the bottom in the same way as normal. This will be the bottom point of the shawl. Finish the second strip halfway down this bottom square as shown in this picture. From now on each strip will be half a square shorter than the previous one. This means that you will start a double strip at the bottom by joining to the previous strip at the widest point of a square. You might find it helpful to mark this point with a safety pin to make sure that you're in the right place.
Carry on working back up the other side of the shawl until you finally work a single triangle as you did at the beginning. Now you might like to block your shawl and add an edging. I used a 3.5mm crochet hook and worked 1 double crochet (US single crochet) and 3 chain all round the edge.
Variations
To work this pattern in another yarn, perhaps of a different weight, you can simply follow the pattern as set but work more or fewer strips to the central point. You could also change the size of the basic squares by adjusting the number of rows worked to the widest point. The number of stitches on the needle at this point should always be an odd number. This method could also be used to knit a square or rectangular blanket, working in single strips diagonally made up of whole squares.
Abbreviations
st / sts stitch / stitches Kknit kf&b knit into the front and back of the stitch SSK slip, slip, knit (see below) K2tog knit two stitches together sl1 slip one stitch kwise knitwise psso pass slipped stitch over slip, slip, knit Slip 2 stitches knitwise (or knitwise followed by purlwise) one at a time, insert tip of left needle into stitches from above, put yarn round right needle and knit both stitches together. Frankie Brown, 2011. My patterns are for personal use only and should not be used to knit items for sale.
