I call this my “organic scarf” because the lace reminds me of seedlings germinating in early spring. This pattern was really nice to work and easy to memorize. I think I worked a little fewer than 7 and a half repeats before I felt I was going to run out of yarn.

Translation! My notes are in (parentheses):

“Cast on three stitches. Increase both edge stitches in the next round (”round“ means RS and consequent WS row pairs) so you have 5 stitches. After that, begin knitting according to the chart. Notice that the wrong side rows are not shown in the chart. On wrong sides, purl all stitches, including yarn overs. The first and last stitches of both edges are knit in garter stitch. When the shawl is the size you want, knit three more rounds (six rows) garter stitch and bind off on a wrong side row.”

Kiaavio = “Chart”
“The shawl is a mirror image. Repeat rows 1-28.”

I’m going to illustrate the chart symbols with two vertical lines with something in the middle: |a-like so|

| | k1
|o| yo
|\| ssk
|/| k2tog
|m| sl1, k2tog, psso
|.| garter stitch

Check out this VERY helpful chart (.pdf) by Needlediva. Please give her a “helpful” on her Onerva page if you use it!

Modifications I made to my own:

• I used 3.25 mm needles instead of the called-for 4.5 mm because my gauge is typically looser than most, and I like a tighter knit anyway.

• The first pre-chart rows were not increased by yarn overs, but by left- and right-leaning increases on either side of the center stitch.

• Worked the edge stitches in stockinette instead of garter stitch. They curl over a bit and the effect is nice. A knitter friend said the rolling edges made it look very “finished”.

• Did not work the edge yarn overs. The k2togs and ssks on the edges of the chart were simply knit.

• The finishing rows I also worked in stockinette. Finished with a sewn bind-off for stretchiness. (Note: I do not recommend the sewn bind-off. It took FOREVER and doesn’t look that great. Another note: I pulled out the sewn bind-off, which was a time-consuming nightmare and bound off again with a stretchy cast off. I had to pull out a few rows to have enough non-mangled yarn with which to bind off, but it looks great after blocking again.)

I hope you enjoy knitting this gorgeous shawl as much as I did!