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Saturday 4 March 2017

dream knitting: simple textured shawls

When it comes to stitch patterns, these days, I'm finding that simplicity is best. I love easy, repetitive knit-and-purl stitch patterns, and lace that uses garter stitch and eyelets. Garter stitch seems to be quite divisive amongst knitters. It's incredibly repetitive, grows very slowly, produces a thick fabric that doesn't curl. It's the first stitch pattern that you learn as a knitter, and it's taken me a while to see its charms - but I absolutely love it. I've been excited to see the growing number of shawls and large scarves in knitting land using simple knit-and-purl stitch patterns, and I'm hoping to knit one soon. But how to choose the pattern? Here are some which are on my mind...

Textured Shawl - photo by thegentleknitter

First is the really simple 'textured shawl recipe' by Orlane. This version is by Nicole, a.k.a. the gentle knitter, which I saw on her wonderful podcast. Nicole used a subtly mottled yarn and I think that this is absolutely stunning. Come to think of it, a lot of this list is heavily influenced by Nicole!

Campside Shawl by Alicia Plummer 

The Campside Shawl has a lot of holes in it and looks great bundled up around the neck. I dislike the ribbed border, and would replace it with garter stitch.

Ene's Scarf by Nancy Bush

Slightly more complicated is Ene's Scarf. This is an old pattern published in the book Scarf Style, which I own but have never knit anything from. I've seen really lovely versions of it knit in natural sheep shades of beige, cream and grey.

Dunyvaig by Kate Davies

Finally, a scarf rather than a shawl, is Dunyvaig by Kate Davies, from her most recent book Inspired by Islay. I really like the textured stripes, and I don't currently have a hand-knitted scarf, so it would be a good addition to my closet.

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