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How to Buy

 How to Buy

Eyelet Ridge Shawl Variations

PATTERN DETAILS

RELEASE DATE:  September 2003

DESCRIPTION:  This pattern includes two shapes of shawl, both worked back and forth in the same pattern stitch. One version is a V-shaped (V) shawl, the other is a triangle. The triangle shawl is worked with your choice of yarn, the V shawl is designed for just one yarn weight. There are 4 edging variations: a garter ridge bind off (add-on fringe optional); a picot bind off (add-on fringe optional); a sideways garter stitch edging with short knitted-on beaded fringe; or a ruffled ribbing. The body of either shawl is very easy to knit and grows longer on each right side row. The length of the V shawl is determined by the length of the cast on row; the triangle shawl begins at the center top back and can range in size from small enough for a doll to a shoulder-sized scarf to a huge body-swaddling shawl. The stitch pattern alternates eyelet garter ridge bands with bands of stockinette stitch. It’s the Ridged Ribbon Eyelet stitch pattern taken from pages 174-75 of Barbara Walker’s A Treasury of Knitting Patterns, 1968.

SIZE:  Note that the eyelet design of this shawl is very stretchy, especially vertically, so the dimensions are measured unstretched, although the shawl will easily stretch vertically and drape well when you wear it. The triangle shawl can be made to any size - the white shawl in the photo, when blocked but unstretched, is about 60 inches (152 cm) wide by about 27 inches (69 cm) deep with a 2-inch (5 cm) fringe along 2 edges.  The V shawl, when blocked but unstretched and including the ruffle, is about 17 inches (43 cm) wide, the cast on edge is about 111 inches (282 cm) long, the center back is about 30 inches (76 cm) deep, and there is a 3.5-inch (9-cm) ruffle.

SKILL REQUIRED:  Advanced beginner to Advanced. The basic triangle shawl with the simple bind off is easy enough for a beginner. The other edgings are a little more complicated, but complete instructions are included.

• YARN:  The amount and weight varies with the shawl design chosen -
  • Triangular shawl – Any weight of yarn from fingering weight to worsted weight yarn. Yardage needed will vary considerably, depending on the size of the shawl you want and the edging you choose to add – the garter ridge bind off requires the least yardage, while the ruffled edging uses a great deal of yarn, as does the optional add-on fringe. The white shawl in the photo is made of a DK weight yarn, specifically Cashmere America’s 3-ply cashmere-merino wool yarn; 310 yards (286 m) for the size shown. The shawl can be made as large as you like by simply continuing the simple shawl pattern to the desired size. The multicolored triangle shawl with picot bind off in the photo is larger and is made of about 1000 yards (925 m) of 8 different colors (1 skein of each) of sportweight “100% Alpaca, Made in Bolivia” from Echo Mountain Alpacas.
  • V-shaped shawl with ruffled edging  -- Approximately 2700 yards (2500 m) of a sportweight yarn, of which slightly more than half was used just for the ruffle. The black shawl in the photo is made of the same alpaca yarn as the multicolored triangle shawl.
• NEEDLES:  Varies with shawl design chosen -
  • Triangular shawl – The needle size depends on the yarn you choose: you should choose a needle 1-3 sizes larger than you would use to make a basic stockinette sweater. Be sure to make a gauge swatch to determine what size needle you want to use. One 32-inch (80 cm) circular needle is long enough for all but the largest shawls, for which you might need a longer needle or use 2 circular needles (use them as you would use 2 straight needles). For the beaded fringe triangle shawl, I used a US Size 10 (6 cm) 32-inch (80 cm) circular needle. For the multicolored triangle shawl I used a US Size 7 (4.5 cm) 40-inch (100 cm) circular needle.
  • V-shaped shawl with ruffled edging -- Three US Size 7 (4.5 mm) 40-inch (100 cm) circular needles or one about 100 inches (250 cm) long, in a size to achieve gauge. One 40-inch (100 cm) needle is long enough to work the body of the shawl, but the ruffle rows are more than 3,000 stitches long and so require one very long circular needle or 2 or 3 shorter ones, using them as you would use 2 straight needles or doublepoint needles.
• MISCELLANEOUS: 
  • For shawls -- 6 stitches markers, one safety pin marker, and an optional crochet hook of suitable size for the V shawl; a darning needle for both shawls; and the following tools for the various edgings:
  • For garter ridge bind off, picot bind off, and ruffled edging – no additional materials needed.
  • For optional add-on fringe – ruler, scissors and/or rotary cutter, crochet hook large enough to hold 4 or more strands of yarn but not too large to fit through the edge stitches of the shawl.
  • For beaded fringe – Choose a bead size that will fit over 2 strands of your yarn. For example use size E glass beads for fingering weight yarn or glass pebble beads for worsted or DK weight yarn (the triangle shawl shown required 131 pebble beads), a crochet hook small enough for the hook to fit through the hole in the beads (a size 9 steel hook works well for DK or worsted weight yarn), darning needle, and ruler (optional).

GAUGE:  The gauges for the samples are as follows –

• Triangular shawl – Gauge is not very important, but what you want is a gauge that is slightly looser than the stockinette stitch you would normally choose for a sweater. Using the DK yarn and needles I chose for the white triangle shawl in the photo, the row gauge is 17 stitches per 4 inches (10 cm) in stockinette stitch, row stitch is unimportant. The multicolored triangle shawl has the same gauge as the V shawl below.
• V-shaped shawl with ruffled edge -- The gauge is 15.5 stitches per 4 inches (10 cm) in stockinette stitch, row gauge is unimportant. Gauge is important for this shawl – if yours is different than mine then the legs of the V will be shorter (if you have more stitches per inch) or longer (if you have fewer stitches per inch). But on the other hand, this shawl is designed with such long legs (ends), so you can throw them loosely and luxuriously over your shoulders, that the difference in length due to a slightly different stitch gauge may not be a problem.

  Simple garter stitch and bind off edging
  Edging as above but with fringe

 Picot Bind Off

  Ruffled Edging

 Beaded Fringe Edging