It's Shawl Season!
As I sit down to write this, it’s blowing a gale outside! The leaves have been so pretty this year but most of them are on the ground now. The daytime temps are dropping fast, autumn is truly here, and I’m thinking of which cozy shawl I want to knit!
My Sister Knits is full of shawls of all varieties. We have shawls of different shapes and sizes, knit with all sorts of yarns. There are rustic ones knit with lofty yarns to keep us especially warm. Soft ones that will float over your shoulders. Shawls that are quick to knit with worsted weight yarn or ones that will take longer but have more drape, with fingering weight yarns, and everything in between! We have samples that use one color or multiple colors. If you don’t find one that is to your liking, we can find you a shawl for the season on Ravelry!
I’m going to highlight five of our samples today to get your creative juices flowing!
First up, the Oaken Shawl, designed by Tin Can Knits. Our sample is knit with Brooklyn Tweed worsted weight Shelter. This yarn is lofty, lightweight, and due to the way it is spun it will keep you nice and warm! You can use one or more colors as there are three sections. The choice is up to you!
Next we have the Pretty Perfect Square, designed by Churchmouse Yarns and Teas. This delightful bit of fluff uses size 3 needles and Shibui Silk Cloud. I have it around my neck and it is soft and warm with no ‘prickle factor’ on my skin! This smaller shawl is ideal for loosely folding into a triangle to keep your neck and shoulders warm. Any lace weight yarn will work; I happen to love Shibui Tweed Silk Cloud right now. The pattern tells you how to make three variations and gives tips on how to create your own. I love this one more than I thought I would now that I have it on; it’s a wonderful social knitting project as it’s a stockinette square!
To change things up a bit, our next shawl is Birds of a Feather, designed by Andrea Mowry. This one is also knit with lace weight yarn but it’s much larger than the other two. It has a long wingspan of 101” from tip to tip! We have several samples of this on display. At least one of them uses Suri for the garter stitch sections. Suri is one of two types of alpaca and is quite rare. Only a minute percentage of alpacas are Suri, which have especially fine and soft fiber, even for alpacas which are known for fine and soft!
Moving on, there is Bloomington Morning, designed by Lisa K. Ross. This crescent-shaped shawl has a fun section called a Thorn Stitch. It looks complicated but uses only one color per row and the easy-to-follow directions are clear. Choose a fingering weight yarn such as Woolfolk Tynd for a buttery soft shawl!
Last, we have Walk in the Woods designed by Lisa Hannes. This is a worsted weight shawl with a mosaic colorwork pattern. Mosaics are easy because they use two colors but only one color per row. The design is created with slipped stitches. We have yarn choices galore for this project! The characteristics you want from your finished shawl will determine the yarn you use. Do you want it super drapey? Extra warm? A little more structured? We can help you choose your yarn to achieve your wants!
Update: I’m still wearing the Pretty Perfect Square and I’ve come to believe it’s an essential wardrobe staple that I must have even though it’s miles of stockinette!
Happy knitting,
