Santa Fe Mountain Trails Shawl Pattern: Orenburg-Style Gossamer Lace Knitting with Southwestern Motifs by Mara Bishop Statnekov

Santa Fe Mountain Trails Shawl (36 peaks per side) Pattern # 002 by Mara Bishop Statnekov

This is the second in a series of gossamer lace shawl patterns using symbols and graphic elements from the American Southwest. My teacher, Galina Khmeleva, has been my principal source of inspiration as well as my source for patterns and information, both from her outstanding books and her wonderful workshops & classes.This pattern has its roots in the Orenburg-style or Russian gossamer lace knitting, but with Southwesternmotifs. I understand that most patterns specify a particular brand and type of yarn to use, but I'm rather inclined to leave it open; that is, to only go so far as to specify "any lace weight yarn". Since the designing of a knitted work is a such personal thing, 1 want to encourage you to feel free to explore your preferences. When I choose a yarn for a particular pattern, I look for the yarn weight (diameter), amount of twist, halo vs. lack of fuzziness, the color....ah, yes...the COLOR. All of these things interact with the needle size and one's personal knitting tension to determine the outcome.So you can use any lace weightyarnthatcapturesyourfancy. Thisisoneofthe wonderful things about knitting shawls; they don't have "to fit" like a sweater, vest or socks. This gives us a lot of freedom.

If you've never tried an Orenburg-style shawl, here's a brief outline of the construction. You'll start by knitting the lower border in a thin strip, then turn your 1st corner and pick up stitches along the interior selvedge. Turn the second corner, and you're ready to knit the body with both the right and left edges on each row. When you've finished the body, you'l turn the 3'"d corner, and knit the top border in a strip, attaching it to the top "live" stitches of the body by k2tog. Don't panic - there are detailed instruction.

Thepeaks or teeth are on the side of the shawl, meaning that there is not a point in the exact corner. This shawl has 36 teeth perside. Every row is started with a Slip stitch: Slip 1 purlwise (s1wyif), with the yarn held in front and then shifted to the back so that it is in place to make the next stitch a knit stitch.

Yarns:

I've used the wraps-per-inch (wpi) and ply designation, such as 30/2, to indicate the weight of the yarn. It's more specific than the general terminology of fingering or lace-weight or cobweb. I find a great deal of variation in the terminology so I have to remind myself that this is not rocket science, and just relax about it. For a heavier lace weight yarn, 18/2 weight Jaggerspun Zephyr Superfine wool/silk (50% merino and 50% tussah silk) works well on 2.75mm = US size 2 needles, and comes in a wide range of beautiful colors. For a finer yarn, I'm especially fond of the lace-weight yarns available from Galina Khmeleva's website: Skaska.com, which are usually in the 30/2 to 32/2 range, and are from exotic fibers like yak and silk, camel and silk, or cashmere and silk. Most of the photos in thispattern are of the brown shawl below which I knitted using 2 different yarns, not plied but held together as oneyarn.One is a36/2cashmere and silkblend;the other is a 32/2 cashmere, llama & merino blend, making the final yarn approximately an 18/4.Both are on cones from Colourmart in the United Kingdom (U.K.). These two yarns are notexactly the same color,but close, and one is just slightly thinner than the other.

Of course, I had to be careful not to split the two threads as l was knitting, but the end effect is a heavy shawl with a lot of surfacedepth. I used approximately 2650 yards of each with size 2 US needles (2.75mm). The finished brown shawl was 66"x 68".

This green shawl is another version of this pattern in a lighter weight yarn. Luckily, I bought 3 skeins of 26/2 Spruce Dragon hand-painted 100% alpaca yarn by Jan Seltman in Colorado because the piece went 50 yards over the 2 skeins or about 2650 yds. I believe this is called "flying by the seat of one's pants" or "winging it". In this case, I bought the yarn first because the feel and color were so beautiful, and then I decided on the project. I used size 11/2 US needles (2.50mm). The finished green shawl was 64"x 68", blocked taut.

Notes:

3 are read from right to left. All even numbered rows are read from left to right. Also, the edgi charts only show every other row: the odd numbered rows. The right side of your work wil have the lace pattern made with yarn-overs, knit 2 togethers, and an occasional knit 3 together. The wrong side will have lace pattern on the edges with plain knitting in the body. Every row is started with a Slip 1 purl-wise (s1wyif), with the yarn held in front and then shifted to the back so that it is in place to make the next knit stitch. Orenburg-styleknittedlaceis based in garter stitch; that is, there are no pul stitches in this piece. So you'llbe using the knit stitch on both the right side (RS) and the wrong side (WS). new skein to the old one, do it only at the edge. If you have joined your yarns in the middle o hed /blocked it. Weave the tag ends in along the edge of the piece.

Edging:

Cast on loosely: 15 stitches using the long tail cast-on method (or using your preferred method). You can use two needles held together or one larger-sized needle for the caston if you find that helpful. On Bottom Edging chart (to the right), Row "-2" is your caston row. Work both Row "-1", and Row 0 (zero) as set-up rows. Each peak consists of 16 rows. This first strip of edging has576rows.

When you have finished your 36 peaks at Row 576, you will be ready to turn the 1st corner (see chart on next page). Then pick up your "slipped" stitches which will make up the body of the shawl. As you knit each pattern row,keep alert to the previous patternrowandhowtherowsrelatetoeachotherasthe pattern develops, paying attention to how the yarn-overs (holes)build thepattern. At the end of each row, take hold of the bottom of your knitting and give it a tug or two. This straightens out and aligns the stitches.

This border has the typical Orenburg 5-hole peaks. The hole at the point and at the narrowest part are counted twice (see the photo below). Since there is one slipped stitch for every 2 rows of border, you will be picking up 288 stitches from the 576 rows of edging..

1st corner This is Row 1 when you are beginning to turn the 1st corner with short rows.

This photo shows the beginning of Row 9, after you have finished the short rows of the chart from the 1st corner.

Starting at the far end of the slipped stitches where you first cast on, pick up 288 slipped stitches with your empty needle until you arrive at the 1st turned corner.

Place a marker in between the 20 border stitches and the 288 body stitches. Knit these body stitches through the back of each stitch. It gives a nice X pattern between this first border and the body.

Turning the Second Corner:

This photo shows where you have finished knitting across the 288 slipped stitches.

When you have finished knitting across the picked up stitches, take your empty needle and carefully pick up 16 stitches from your original cast-on edge from the outer edge to the inner.

These 16 stitches are picked up along the edge of your original 15 stitch cast on. Try to pick up through the centers of the yarn-overs, with the correct amount of stitches around them to make the patterns merge. Knit across these 16 stitches to the end of Row

Turn the "2nd Corner" edging stitches, with this chart. Work Row 10. (see photo to the right).

2nd Corner You will be using the left edging pattern up to the marker. Then, continue knitting (remember this is a garter stitch garment) all the way across the entire piece to the last 2 stitches. Reminder: when you get to the end of this row (past the second marker) and into the right edging, remember to knit the last 2 stitches together (as indicated on Row 10 of the1st Corner chart). This little detail is easy to miss. (see the charts on the next page.)

Left Edging chart

As you start Row 11, you should have: 19 edge stitches (right edge) + 288 body stitches + 20 edge stitches (left edge). Hint: after the right edge pattern is worked at the beginning of an odd-numbered row, you'll be doing the same thing on the beginning of next even numbered row. After Row 16, you will continue with body rows to Row 568. At the same time you will be repeating the 16 rows of edging on both the right and the left sides. Here's a photo of how I keep track of it all. I use highlighter tape on the edge chart (because I use it repeatedly), and I use highlighter pens on the body charts. Reminder: the black horizontal lines on the charts are placed every 16 rows to reflect the 16 row edge charts.

Charts:

When you downloaded this pattern, you should have seen: Santa-Fe-Mountain-Trails-Shawl-text.pdf Santa-Fe- Mountain-Trails-Shawl-charts.pdf The edging charts are included in the text. There are 12 pages of body charts. Here is a diagram of how they fit together.

There are horizontal lines on the body charts every 16 rows to correspond with the 16 row border pattern. The vertical lines are in 10 stitch increments. They are alternately black and colored.I use these colored lines to indicate where to place colored markers across the rows.

Edges & Body:

Youwilbe incorporating the Right and Left Edging charts (16 row repeats) with the chartsfor the body of the shawl from Row 11 to Row568). You should be at Row 11 on all three charts at this point. From Row 11 to Row 16, your edging charts and the body chart row numbers match up. After this, you just keep repeating the 16 rows of the edging while you work the body charts. I tape the charts together (like Charts 4-3-2-1), and fold them horizontally to be manageable.

On even numbered rows (WS):

From the first stitch to the edge marker, you follow the Left Edging chart. Remember to Slip 1 purlwise (s1wyif), at the beginning of every row. From the second border marker to the end of the row, you use the Right Edging chart. In between the markers is the body of the shawl which is working in garter stitch (plain knitting). You may find it easier if you have placed markers to delineate the edging from the body. I find that it helps me keep track of where I am by placing colored markers at regular intervals across the row. I use colored #10 pearl cotton tied in loops to make my own markers. If it works for you, you can place your colored markers where the colored lines are on the pattern. With yarn as fine as 36/2, metal or plastic markers leave a space in your kniting that shows up in the finished piece in a bad way.1 learned this the hard way. That's why I suggest using #10 (or finer) pearl cotton. It comes in colors - I'm a proponent of color coding. Upon finishing Row 568, you have finished the body of the shawl, and are ready to turn the 3" corner. While knitting this last WS row, I usually remove all of the markers except the 2 indicating the right and left edges.

Turning the 3rd corner:

You will have ended the body of your shawl by completing the wrong side row with: You are halfway through a peak, and will finish it with the short rows indicated below.

3rd Corner Complete Rows 9-16 of the right edge with the 3rd Corner chart. This is the last peak on the right side. Then use the "Right Edging Chart" on page 6 to work the last edge at the top of the shawl.

This photo shows the finish of Row 568 when you are about to turn the 3'd corner with shortrows.

Having turned the 3'd corner, you're ready to start knitting the top edge using the Right Edging chart. Remove the "right-side" marker. As you are knitting each row of the edge pattern, knit the last stitch of the edge together with one "live" stitch of the body. Slip this last stitch back to the left-hand needle before you turn your work. This attaches the edge to the body of the shawl. Knit back to the outside edge of the border on the even numbered rows. Continue knitting 1 edge stitch with 1 body stitch at the interior end of every odd numbered row until you have finished your 36 peaks. When you come almost to the end of the 36"peak, do not knit the last Row 16. Complete Row 15 of the top edge pattern. You should have 17 stitches on your right needle. To the left of your “left-side" marker, there should be 20 left-hand edge stitches on your left needle. Turning the 4th corner:

ing 20 stitches which is Row 9 in the chart below so that all of your stitches are on one needle

Use this chart to turn the last corner. You will be working only the left-hand edge stitches. Work this entire chart through Row 16 which is your last row. You should have 16 stitches remaining to the left of the marker. You now have all of your stitches on one needle with the marker in the middle. Slip the 16 left edge stitches up to the marker onto the empty needle. Get rid of the marker and take a deep breath because you are almost finished! ches on your right needle, and 16 stitches on your left needle that need to be grafted together

Graft last corner:

Slip 1 stitch from the left-hand needle to the right-hand needle. Bring the second stitch on the right needle through the slipped stitch, putting it on the left-hand needle as you drop the slipped stitch off your right needle. (Clear as mud.) It's difficult to write, but if you do each step, I believe you'll find the actions fairly simple. Now,bring thesecond stitch on theleft nedle through the first stitch, putting it on the right needle and dropping thefirst stitch off. Do this back and forth until 1 stitch remains. Break the yarn leaving 5-6 inches of yarn, and thread the tail end of the yarn through the last stitch. Then, weave that end into the edge. Voila! You're done knitting.

Blocking or Finishing:

There are lots of ways to block a square or rectangular shawl. The traditional way is to use a blocking frame. I've made one from four 72" long, 1" x 2"s of maple with holes driled every 1" into which I placed galvanized nails at convenient intervals and in the corners to make adjusting the size easier. By threading a nylon cord through all of the peaks (back to front) starting in one corner and going all the way around. Wash it gently in a bowl of warm water to make sure tht it is thoroughly wet. Remove and gently squeeze out all of the water. I usually put a bath towel on my kitchen floor, put the shawl on half of it and fold the other half over the top. Then, I walk back and forth on it so that the towel absorbs the extra moisture. Stretch the nylon cord over the nails of your blocking frame, starting in the corners, and then over the nails at intervals. Before I built the blocking frame, I used my queen-sized mattress with just the mattress pad on it to block shawls. Using blocking rods (though 3/32" stainless steel welding rods work fine and are cheaper), lace them through the peaks of the borders. I stretch out the rods and anchor them with large T-pins at the appropriate finished size. You should stretch the shawl as much or as little as you like. I personally stretch mine quite taut. May you enjoy this pattern, and wear your shawl in good health and cheer.

Mara Bishop Statnekov Note: The pattern on the inside of the edging is called a "key pattern" or "meander pattern". They are most familiar to me from Mayan ruins in the Yucatan, but you will see them all over the world, especially around the Mediterranean. Recently, I saw a photo of an Anasazi cotton garment from the Tonto Ruins on the Salt River in Arizona dated from the 11th century; the item is in the Arizona State Museum (photo in "Sprang Unsprung" by Carol James). This new world garment had a meander design! I think it's spectacular, and this lead to the incorporation of the meander design in this pattern.