Lodestone by Ann Budd

Lodestone

Knitting
May 2020
Fingering (14 wpi) ?
21 stitches and 36 rows = 4 inches
in garter
US 6 - 4.0 mm
600 yards (549 m)
English
This pattern is available for $7.00 USD buy it now

$5 from each sale of this pattern will be donated to “Every Mother Counts”, an organization dedicated to ensuring that mothers everywhere have access to the maternity care they need. They are making special efforts to make healthcare safe and accessible during this global pandemic and every dollar raised will go towards diapers, groceries, medical bills, and other necessities.

To learn more or make an additional donation to the cause, visit their site here

This shawl combines a lot of elements that remind me of my dear mother Barbara Walker. Not the legendary Barbara G. Walker of stitch dictionary fame, but Barbara S. Walker of somewhat lesser ceramic fame. Also of an artistic nature, my Barbara Walker loved to wrap various types of string and twine around wooden paddles that she would slap against moist clay to create texture in pots of all shapes and sizes. The stitch patterns in this shawl remind me of some of those textures.

It’s only fitting that I choose two of those stitch patterns (Daisy Stitch and Indian Cross Stitch) from A Treasury of Knitting Patterns by Barbara G. Walker, a book that my mother gifted me when I worked in a yarn store in the early 1980s. To top it all off, the blue of this yarn matches my mother’s beautiful blue eyes and I named the pattern for the former co-op gallery in Boulder, Colorado, of which my mother was a member and where she sold her pottery. Here’s to you, Mom!

This crescent-shaped shawl begins with a narrow garter-stitch tab from which stitches are picked up around three edges. To achieve the crescent shape, two stitches are increased inside each edge stitch every right-side row and one stitch is increased inside each edge stitch every wrong-side row. A modified picot bind-off produces tiny points along the lower edge. Both row-by-row and charted instructions are provided.

Finished Size
About 63” (160 cm) across straight upper edge and 18” (45.5 cm) long at deepest point, after blocking.

Yarn
Fingering weight (#1 Fine).

Shown here: Emma’s Yarn Hella Hank (80% superwash merino, 10% cashmere, 10% nylon; 600 yards 548 meters/150 grams): Mom Jeans, 1 hank (see Notes).

Needles
Size U.S. 6 (4.0 mm): 24” circular.

Notions
Stitch markers; tapestry needle.

Gauge
21 sts and 36 rows = 4” (10 cm) in garter st, after blocking.
Exact gauge isn’t crucial, but will affect the size and drape of the scarf.

Thank you Ann Budd, Cally Monster (Monsterknits) and Emma’s Yarn for your incredible gift to Mothers everywhere. See the other pattern, supporting the same cause here