Combine Garter and Lace for a Fun Shawl

I know it’s too early to be thinking about warm weather in the northern hemisphere as I write this, but something about this Luxurious Knit Shawl from Yarnspirations has me in the mind of spring.

It’s probably that pretty green color (which the pattern says is Caron Simply Me, a bulky weight acrylic, nylon and wool blend, in color Malachite). Or the combination of squishy warm garter stitch with a wide border of lace that makes me think of sunnier days ahead.

You could wear it with the garter stitch portion dominating while it’s colder outside, and turn it so the lace is more prominent when it’s warmer out. (Check the pictures on the pattern page to see how this works.)

The design is a pretty simple right angle triangle, but the pattern is rated intermediate because of the lace. Still, working lace stitches in bulky yarn is a great way to learn the ins and out of lace knitting without having to deal with tiny knitting needles at the same time.

The project comes out to about 28.5 by 65 inches, or 72.5 by 165 cm. Pattern instructions include a chart and row by row instructions for knitting the lace portion if you aren’t comfortable with knitting from the chart. But this pattern isn’t too difficult once you get the hang of it that you could try working from the chart and using the written instructions to check your work.

Because the garter stitch section is worked first, you could use any weight of yarn you like and make it any size you want, so long as you end up with a multiple of 14 plus 8 stitches for the lace pattern.

This looks like a fun one that would give you a little practice with lace and a lot of mindless TV knitting at the same time.

You can grab the free pattern from Yarnspirations.

[Photo: Yarnspirations]

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Patty Lyons is known for teaching knitters the how and the why of knitting skills. Her Knitting Bag of Tricks helped knitters learn how stitches work, why we do things the way we do and what might be better alternatives.

Patty Lyons’ Knitting ER aims to do the same with a particular focus on fixing mistakes in your knitting both before and after you bind off. She has deliberately made mistakes (and tons of accidental ones as well) to teach herself the best methods for fixing everything from a misplaced increase and a dropped edge stitch to faulty cable turns, messed up lace and brioche knitting disasters, to name a few.

The book starts with a foundation of understanding how stitches work, how to read them, and the basic methods we use for fixing mistakes in knitting: frogging (ripping out several rows at a time), tinking (removing stitches across a row one stitch at a time) and dropping a stitch or several stitches on purpose to fix a mistake and ladder it back up.

It talks about the most basic mistakes like accidental yarn overs and slipped stitches and how to fix them, as well as tips for using lifelines or slipping a smaller needle into your project to hold the stitches before you rip.

Then we move on to more complicated fixes like picking up a dropped edge stitch, fixing a dropped cast on stitch, removing the twist from a circular knitting project (which you can only do after the first round is knit; this is an ER not a miracle station), fixing ladders in a project, tinking when you’re worked increases or decreases (or what to do when you forgot to add them) and fixing dropped stitches at the edges or short rows.

After that is the specialist’s office, which covers fix-it techniques you might not ever need, or only rarely, but it’s nice to have a place you can find the solution if you ever do need it. We’re talking fixing mistakes in a lace pattern, dealing with miscrossed cables (and counting rows in the cable so you when when it’s the right time to work it again), colorwork issues and brioche blunders. Some of these diagrams are sure to give you pause if you’ve never done something like dropping down a single cable for 20 rows and reknitting it, but again, it’s nice to know you can do those things if you need to.

Even if your project is done it’s not too late for the doctor to do some good. You’ll also learn how to use duplicate stitch to make knit and purl stitches on the surface of a knitting project, which allows you to do things like fake a decrease you forgot, add a purl you missed in a textured stitch pattern, even fix mistakes in lace, stranded knitting, brioche and cables.

There’s also tips for dealing with too tight cast ons and bind offs and floppy necklines, pieces knit too long or too short and very detailed instructions for grafting in probably any situation you might encounter, as well as approaches to major surgery.

A lot in these later chapters is kind of mind blowing, and if you’re not getting it from drawings, there are QR codes to videos that cover a lot of the problems and allow you to see the fixes in another way. And there are cute illustrations on the theme of knitting ER from Franklin Habit, too!

If you’ve ever wanted to know how to fix mistakes, minor or major, without having to rip out all of your knitting, this is the book you’ll want to have on your shelf for ready reference and reassurance throughout your knitting career.

About the book: 208 pages, paperback, published 2026 by David & Charles. Suggested retail price $24.99.

Have you read?