This shawl is inspired by Faroese shawls, which feature shaping around the shoulders to help the shawl drape better. Instead of the traditional gusset down the back, I designed it to look like a triangle shawl. It is knit top-down, which means that you start with a low number of stitches and increase until you reach the desired size (or run out of yarn).

This pattern is suitable for you if you know how to knit, purl, increase using the yarn-over (YO) technique, and decrease using knit 2 together (K2TOG).

All my patterns are using Calibri font size 13 in black on white, so they are accessible and easy to read on different screens and when printed. All abbreviations and acronyms are explained in the pattern.

You will get a document that includes:

• Written instructions in English, using US, UK and metric measurements and needle sizes
• Instructions for shaping the shoulders for two different sizes (adult women and teens)
• Step-by-step instructions for making horizontal buttonholes
• Tips for blocking depending on your choice of color scheme

Recommended yarn

This project works well with Fine-weight yarn. For the shawl in the photos, which is size Small/Medium with a height of about 71 cm (28 in) down the back, I used 7 skeins of Drops Fabel (colorway Berry Dreams) measuring a total of 1435 m (1570 yds). For a Large-sized shawl I estimate you will need about 2150 m (2350 yds) of yarn with similar weight. The yarn is self-striping, which enhances the ripple effect of the Old Shale pattern that forms the basis of this shawl. But check out the Projects section to see how others have approached it; it also looks lovely with two alternating colors, as well as with gradient yarn.

Needles

Knitting needles size 3mm (US 3 / UK 11) or size needed to obtain the gauge. Keep in mind that this is supposed to be a loose knit, so avoid needles that are smaller than recommended on the yarn label.

I recommend circular needles of at least 100 cm (39 inches) long, or longer if you intend to make a larger shawl than the one in the photos.

The pattern includes instructions for knitting a swatch to check your gauge.

Size:

• Small / Medium: fits people with a shoulder-to-shoulder measurement of up to 40.5 cm (16 in);
• Large / Extra-large: fits people with a shoulder-to-shoulder measurement of up to 45.5 cm (18 in)

The instructions for sizes are relevant only for the shoulder width. You can make the shawl as long as you want it.

The shawl drapes due to the lacy pattern, so it looks good if it is slightly larger than your shoulder size; e.g. if your shoulder size is 43 cm (17 in), a L/XL size will fit best.

The shawl starts the same way for both sizes, and you will be able to check whether it fits before deciding which size to make. Your gauge will also affect the size, so do stop and check when the instructions call for it.

This pattern is for personal use only. If you wish to sell items based on this pattern, contact me for permission. You may not distribute or publish this pattern anywhere online or offline.

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