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A Sweet Shawl to Knit for Wedding Season

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It’s probably because Gemma’s Wrap, a free pattern from Lion Brand Yarn, is shown in a pretty, soft lavender colored yarn that it makes me think of weddings. But it’s also true that this would be a great project to knit to wear to a wedding or another special occasion where you might need a little extra warmth.

It’s a relatively easy pattern, worked in two halves from a short side so you can make it any length you like. There’s a bit of ribbing at the edge and then two sections of lace, with the main part of the body worked in stockinette stitch.

The lace sections are written out in the pattern, but there’s also a chart if you prefer. When each section of the shawl is finished, you leave the stitches live and finish the project by grafting the pieces together.

While it’s meant to be worn as a shawl, those ribbed edges make me think you could also make it into a shrug by holding the long edges together and sewing a seam on each end to turn the lace section (or however much of it you need) into a sleeve. This would make it a little easier to wear and highlight the lace sections more because they wouldn’t be wrapped up behind you when you wear it.

The project uses worsted weight yarn (shown here in Lion Brand Heartland) and measures about 17 by 60 inches as shown. It would be lovely for spring and summer in a pastel tint as shown, or use a darker color for other times of the year.

In addition to yarn and knitting needles, you’ll need a stitch holder or two (or some spare yarn to hold the stitches) and a yarn needle for sewing the pieces together.

You can get the free pattern or buy a kit with the yarn from Lion Brand.

[Photo: Lion Brand Yarn.]

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Pumpkin Knitting Patterns

There are so many great pumpkin knitting patterns out there, and it looks like I haven’t done a roundup of pumpkin knitting patterns in a few years, so it’s high time for another one.

The Lancaster Pumpkins from Cuddle Bunny Knits on Etsy are classic, made with stockinette stitch in the round and using super bulky yarn. If you’ve never knit a pumpkin before, this is a good place to start.

Jazz it up a little bit by knitting ribbing instead of straight stockinette, which gives your knit pumpkin a little more texture, too. This one is form Jessies Knits on Etsy. This one is worked flat on straight needles and there are three size options to choose from.

Or try the Pumpkin Patch pattern from Blue Sky Fibers, which is a free pattern on Ravelry. It’s worked with two strands of worsted weight yarn held together to give your pumpkins a marled look, or you can keep it solid. 

There’s another free ribbed pumpkin knitting pattern at Yarnspirations that is really cute. These are knit flat and seamed, and they come in three different sizes. You can either stack them as a centerpiece to decorate a table or you can leave them separate. Or make a whole pumpkin patch and do some of both! I love that they chose unconventional colors so you can see you don’t have to be limited to orange when you knit up your pumpkins.

Made by Devrie on Etsy has these cute pumpkins with twisted stitches (they look like cables but it’s only moving one stitch at a time) that you can make in any size with any yarn you like.

The Twisted Heart Pumpkin for Etsy seller Percival Makes Things uses cables to make a heart shape on the side of the pumpkin. It’s worked in the round and the cable pattern is charted.

And while I was really sticking to plain pumpkins here, not knit jack o’lanterns, I can’t resist sharing this beaded jack o’lantern knitting pattern from Knit Cole Studio on Etsy. The base pumpkin is simple Stockinette and you can stitch on beads in whatever design you like to make your face, or keep it plain.

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