The Reflection Shawl is my take on a prayer shawl; a large square to wrap around you, knit in any yarn, at any gauge – and in any size.

As you are knitting, you rest in your wishes/prayers/reflections, to infuse the knit with your intentions. This can be a rather powerful practice, and it can be used in many different ways, in many different situations. Some suggestions are given in the pattern, but there is no right or wrong here – your Reflection Shawl is your own, and you can work it however you want.

The pattern gives instructions on how to work the square, it gives ideas for striping or color blocking, embroidery and a recipe for working a rose to use as embellishment. It also provides suggestions for the practice of contemplative knitting.

The shawl is shaped with decreases – there are no short rows involved. The pattern gives instructions for one size, in a number of different gauges, but it also provides a formula for you to create the size you prefer. Perhaps you want to work the shawl as a blanket; perhaps you want to work it as a scarf – the possibilities are endless!

Size
The Reflection Shawl is designed as a large square, 120 x 120 cm / 47.25 x 47.25 inches, but the pattern gives instructions on how to change the size to fit your preferences.

Construction
This shawl is constructed as two separate triangles. First you work the cast on and set up over two of the sides of the shawl. You then work the first triangle with decreases along one side – this is section A. After finishing section A, you pick up stitches along the longest side (the side where you worked the decreases). You use these stitches as you work section B, to knit section B together with section A.

Gauge
You can basically knit this shawl in any yarn weight, at any gauge. The only thing that matters is that you’re enjoying the fabric you’re making! You could say that gauge is not important in this shawl – but on the other hand, it’s nice to know what size shawl you’ll end up with, and the size will also affect the yardage.

I prefer a shawl that is approximately 120 x 120 cm / 47.25 x 47.25 inches. It’s a big, cozy shawl that will keep you warm, and it’s long enough that you can wrap it comfortably around you.

In the pattern, I have put the numbers that will give you a 120 x 120 cm shawl, if your gauge is 22 sts pr. 10 cm in garter stitch. This is the gauge I get with a light fingering yarn on needles size 3.25 mm. If your gauge is different, you can look in the table of stitch counts below to see how many sts to cast on, when to place your marker during the cast on, and how many sts to pick up along the diagonal of the shawl after finishing section A. All other instructions will remain the same.

The yardage given also refers to this type of shawl, but of course it will change with different sizes, yarns and gauges.