shawlette • The Knitting Vortex

Lurlene

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Jul 142015

Lurlene is a flirty belle, not complicated but eye-catching, engaging and pretty. This one-skein crescent shawlette is worked sideways in garter stitch, beginning and ending with a few stitches. Decorative eyelets frame the stockinette short row godets which shape the curving lower edge, and look lovely on both sides. Lurlene is part of Three Belles and One Beau, a collection featuring three diverse sideways shawls with short row details, plus one simple sideways textured wrap. Techniques & Skills Used: longtail CO, knit/purl, increasing/decreasing, short rows; pattern includes a link to my short row tutorials. Size: 50” length and 12” depth. Yarn: Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light (100% merino wool; 420 yards/384m/100g), shown in Baltic; 1 skein. The sample as written used approximately 375 yards of fingering weight yarn, but any amount may be used; see Designer’s Notes. Other Materials: US 6 (4mm) 32” circular needle, or size to match gauge; Stitch markers (3); Yarn needle. Gauge: 22 st and 28 rows/4” in stockinette stitch, 22 st and 40 rows/4” in garter stitch, after blocking. Gauge is not critical for this project, . . .

The Vizier’s Daughter

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Jan 012015

Scheherazade, the Vizier’s Daughter, is the legendary storyteller of One Thousand and One Arabian Nights. She agrees to spend one night with the king, a tyrant who has married and the next day beheaded a virgin one thousand times already, in anger and vengeance over finding that his first wife had been unfaithful to him. At nightfall, Scheherazade begins a story, which she stops mid-tale at dawn. Enthralled by the narrative, the king spares her life until the next night, when she finishes the story and begins another, again pausing at dawn. And so it goes for 1001 nights, until she tells him she has no more stories, during which time the king has fallen in love with her and begat their three sons. Kinder and wiser, he spares her life and makes her his queen.This one skein shawl is knit sideways with a garter stitch body and narrow bottom edge, and features sinuous lace along the lower curve. The decorative motif recalls the arabesques of Islamic surface decoration, based on linear patterns of scrolling . . .

Picabeau

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Feb 182013

Picabeau is a crescent shaped small shawl, with asymmetrical construction that first increases and then decreases in a gentle curve. The reversible bias shape is highlighted by regular rows of YOs that swoop across the shawl, creating visual movement. One luscious skein is all that is required for this versatile and wearable accessory; instructions are given to make the shawl using any amount of yardage. Techniques & Skills Used: cable CO, knit, increasing/decreasing, picots. Size: 60” along bottom curve and 8” center depth, customizable. Yarn: String Theory Hand Dyed Yarn Caper Sock (80% superwash merino wool, 10% cashmere, 10% nylon; 400 yards/365m/113g); 1 skein shown in Light Teal. Sample used 348 yards; instructions are given to make the shawl using any amount of yardage. Other Materials: US 6 24” circular needle; Yarn needle. Gauge: 20 st and 40 rows/4” in garter stitch, after blocking. See it on Ravelry or on Payhip, to read more or purchase the pattern.

Five Short Row Shawls

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Jan 312013

Short rows are one of my all-time favorite knitting techniques. They easily allow you to shape your knitwear, for better fit and more intriguing angles. In the Five Short Row Shawls collection, I’ve used this technique to create five simple garter one-skein shawls, each with a different and unique construction. While I love crescents, topdown triangles and bias boomerangs, the five wraps in this book use short rows imaginatively to create some of these familiar shapes in totally new ways. By choosing a single skein of a beautiful variegated or semi-solid yarn worked in garter stitch, the focus is entirely on the rhythmic and magical process of knitting short rows. The results are both simple, and singularly stunning. Each pattern may be purchased individually, or all together as an ebook with a special price that equals getting one pattern for free. The collection includes Triangulate, Piewhacket, Rondelay, Aerophile, and Rufflebye; see them all together as Five Short Row Shawls on Ravelry or on Payhip.

Rufflebye

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Jan 312013

A new take on the ruffle shawl, Rufflebye is a one-skein, reversible wrap worked sideways in three garter stitch wedges which cleverly intersect to change the knitting direction. Increases and decreases create the shape from tip to tip, while two sets of short rows throughout form the crescent shape and the gently ruffled edging. Construction: Rufflebye is cast on at one tip with a few stitches, increased to the halfway point then decreased again to the other tip, and shaped with short rows throughout. Techniques & Skills Used: longtail CO, knit, increasing/decreasing, short rows. Size: one size; 45” length and 10” depth. Rufflebye forms a natural semi-circle and measures 40” along inner semi-circumference, and 72” along outer semi-circumference, measured without stretching. The 12-stitch ruffle is approximately 2.6” and begins as soon as there are enough stitches. Yarn: Indigodragonfly MerGoat Sock (80% merino, 10% cashmere, 10% nylon, 400 yards/366m/115g); 1 skein, shown in My Boyfriend Had A Bicentennial (Buffy). See Designer’s Notes for instructions to adjust for differing yardage. Other Materials: US 6 (4mm) 40″circular needle, or size to match . . .

Aerophile

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Jan 172013

Aerophile is a one-skein, reversible garter shawl with narrow wings that stretch wide like a soaring bird which loves to fly. Each wing is knit using short rows from a provisionally cast on central spine, while the scalloped top edge is created by casting on additional stitches every six rows. After both wings are complete, a loopy super-picot edging binds off the live stitches along the bottom edge. Choose a beautiful yarn as the focus of the shawl, and let the uncomplicated fabric and simple textural edgings highlight the fiber. Construction: Aerophile is provisionally cast on at the center vertical, and each wing is worked separately in short rows to the side. Techniques & Skills Used: provisional CO, backwards loop CO, Cable CO, knit, increasing, short rows. Size: one size; 52” length and 18” depth. Yarn: Dream In Color Smooshy (100% merino, 450 yards/411m/100g); 1 skein, shown in Deep Seaflower. The sample used approximately 425 yards of light fingering weight yarn. Other Materials: US 6 (4mm) 40” circular needle, or size to match gauge; Scrap yarn for provisional CO . . .

Rondelay

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Nov 132012

Rondelay is a one-skein, reversible garter shawl constructed from three sequential half rounds or rondels, which grow from cast on stitches using both short rows and strategically placed radial yarnover increases. Each rondel builds upon the previous one, creating a finished semi-circular shape that drapes beautifully as it wraps around the shoulders. Designed to show off the colors of a variegated or hand dyed skein, Rondelay looks equally fantastic in a solid color. Construction: Each rondel is knit using short rows, incorporating additional stitches from the cast on into each row, and at the same time increasing stitches by making yarn overs on a few strategic rows. Techniques & Skills Used: cable CO, knit, short rows. Size: one size; 50” length along top edge and 9” depth at widest part of rondel. Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Sock (100% superwash merino, 440 yards/402m/ 100g); 1 skein, shown in Indiecita. The sample used approximately 410 yards of light fingering weight yarn. Other Materials: US 6 (4mm) 40” circular needle, or size to match gauge; Yarn needle. Gauge: 18 st and 36 rows/4” in . . .

Triangulate

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Nov 072012

Triangulate is a one-skein, reversible garter shawl composed of two triangles with a chevron border, and is designed to show off the colors of a variegated skein, using simple stitches and beautiful yarn. The shawl begins with a provisional cast on at the center, and is knit outwards in two triangular halves using short rows. The wide edging is knit continuously from the live stitches with no picking up stitches necessary, and may be made narrower or wider to accommodate varying yardages. The unusual construction results in a deceptively simple shape that is uncomplicated yet interesting to knit, and versatile to wear. Construction: this shawl is provisionally cast on at the center vertical, and each half of the central triangle is worked in short rows to the side. The chevron edging may be customized to be wider or narrower, depending on your preference and available yardage. Techniques & Skills Used: provisional CO, knit, increasing, short rows. Size: one size; 58” length and 19” depth. Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Sock (100% superwash merino wool, 440 yards/ 402m/100g); 1 skein, shown . . .

Sailing To Byzantium

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Sep 262011

For over 1000 years, the Byzantine Empire stood as a symbol of Christian power in the eastern half of what had once been the Roman Empire, symbolizing a final link to the ancient world of the Greeks and Romans. Renamed Constantinople in 330 AD by Constantine I, the ancient city of Byzantium remained a center of wealth and power despite its fall to the western knights of the Fourth Crusade in 1203. The future of the city changed forever in 1453, when it was besieged by Sultan Mehmet II and the Ottoman Turks, overrun, and reborn as Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire. A city of ancient Roman stonework, early Christian domes, towering Islamic minarets and intricate Ottoman tile and mosaics, Byzantium now stands for a dream of splendor and beauty straddling Europe and Asia Minor. Byzantine architecture is notable for its stacked shapes; minarets towering over domes, above arches and blocks. The repeating geometric motifs create a strong visual effect, in warm tones of sandstone, clay, stone and lead. The geometry is enhanced . . .

Iznik

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Sep 262011

Iznik shawlette is part of the Sailing To Byzantium Collection. A one-skein shawlette, Iznik is knit sideways in garter stitch with a knit-in floral lace border reminiscent of Turkish Iznik ceramic tile motifs. Techniques & Skills Used: longtail CO, backwards loop CO, knit/purl, increasing/decreasing, lace; the lace edging is both fully written and charted, with links to my special lace stitch tutorials. Size: 42” length and 17” depth. Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Sock (100% superwash merino wool; 440 yards/ 402m/100g); 1 skein, shown in Playa, or approximately 370 yards of fingering weight yarn. Other Materials: US 6 (4mm) 32” circular needle, or size to match gauge; Stitch markers (2); Yarn needle. Gauge: 24 st and 32 rows/4” in garter stitch, after blocking. Gauge is not critical for this project, however a different gauge may result in a smaller or larger finished shawl, and different yardage requirements. See it on Ravelry or on Payhip, to read more and purchase the pattern.

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