Sometimes, a wildly variegated skein of sock yarn calls out to you, but once you buy it, you have no idea what to do with it. This happened to me once when I saw a skein dyed black and bright orange. The lifelong baseball fan in me immediately squealed, “Oriole colors!” and instantly, I knew I had to have it. So I bought it and took it home and wound it, and admired it in my stash for about a month, while I wondered what to make with it. A shawlette or scarf seemed to be in order, but I wasn’t sure of what pattern I could do that wouldn’t get lost in the colors.

Cakes is a triangular shawlette with a garter stitch body and a simple lace edging, knit tip to tip. The lace is simple enough that it doesn’t compete with the colors, while the garter stitch allows the colors to shine. Fellow Bird fans will recognize in the name the reference to pitching great Jim Palmer (nicknamed Cakes for eating pancakes on the days he pitched), but this pattern is for anyone who wants a shawl that will allow him or her to “have their yarn, and the pattern, too!”

Gauge is approximately 4 stitches to an inch, knit in garter stitch, but knit whatever fabric you like. It’s not a fitted corset.

Techniques required: Chart reading, increasing and decreasing, lace.

Notes: This shawl has been written to use one skein of sock yarn. Should you desire a larger shawl, simply continue to increase until your shawl is half your desired size.

In Row 12 of the chart, after you bind off the seven stitches, the stitch you have on your right hand needle is the first of the four stitches you knit.