When winter comes to the forest, the trees shed their leaves and bare the snow on their branches with dignity, creating a wonderland from a fairy tale.

When winter comes to the water, the fish swim deeper, the waves freeze over, and the icy flat surface sparkles like a shiny mirror.

But when winter comes to the plains, the majestic combination of plants and sunshine create a bed of snow with tufts of prairie grass poking through, crowned with tiaras of ice, shining in the sun for all to behold.

The Elymus shawl is inspired by the pattern of ice frozen on prairie grass over the snow. This triangular shawl is knit in garter stitch, side to side with a crystalline lace pattern along the edge reminiscent of the frozen ice droplets falling off of the grass. The flat edge has a single YO detail on every other row to match the triangular shaping.

The wonders of a weighed yarn shawl are that you can use whatever yarn you like and as little or much yarn as you desire! This means that the shawl can be knit up with anything from Lace Weight yarn to Super Duper Bulky! You will just need to what your half-way point is based on how much yarn you have and how big you want your shawl to be. Below please find recommended amounts of yarn for each yarn weight, which needle size is recommended for each weight, and information on the yarn used in the sample.

Yarn:
Approximately 700(600, 500, 500, 400, 400, 300) yards or 640(549, 457, 457, 366, 366, 275) meters needed for Lace(Fingering, Sport, DK, Worsted, Bulky, Super Bulky)

Needles: US Size 4(6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 15) or 3.5mm(4, 4.5, 5.5, 6, 9, 10) 24inch circular needles or long straights

Gauge: Gauge is dependent on weight of yarn used, and is not of the utmost importance for this pattern. It is much more important that the knitting process is enjoyable and that the finished fabric is to your liking! That being said, the designer’s recommended stitch gauge for each weight is as follows, all in garter stitch:
Lace: 32 sts = 4inches (10cm)
Fingering: 26 sts = 4inches (10cm)
Sport: 22 sts = 4inches (10cm)
DK: 20 sts = 4inches (10cm)
Worsted: 15 sts = 4inches (10cm)
Bulky: 11 sts = 4inches (10cm)
Super Bulky: 6 sts = 4inches (10cm)

Finished Measurements: This pattern can be knit to the desired size of each individual knitter. Sample shown has a final length of 63inches (157.5cm) and a depth of 20inches (50cm).