Knitting

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Knit Your First Shawl — It’s a Piece of Cake

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There have been many great innovations in the knitting and fiber arts world in the more than 20 (!) years that I’ve been writing about these subjects online. Different fibers and materials and styles of knitting needles and new tools have made knitting more fun and given us plenty to put on our holiday wish lists.

One of my favorite things to come out of the yarn world in recent history is cake yarns. These colorful cakes feature an array of colors (or tones of the same color), which makes it easy to make a project using a single ball that looks more complicated than it is.

And when you combine a cake yarn with a simple design, it’s a big win. Beginners can make projects that automatically look more complicated just because they’re not a solid color, even though it’s no more work on the knitter’s part.

An example of this is the Piece of Cake Shawl from Maria Wellmert. It’s a triangular garter stitch shawl with a slip stitch edging that’s super simple to knit. The hardest part might be remembering to pay attention to how much yarn you’ve used so you can start decreasing when you need to so you don’t run out of yarn before the end of the project. 

If you’ve been a reader here for very long you might sense that I’m going to suggest this might be a great stash busting project, too. You can use up a bunch of odd balls and make a wild colored shawl, or pick all the leftovers of a particular color that you have to make a more harmonious design. Or anywhere in between. 

If you’re using smaller balls of yarn you might want to make a magic ball before you get started so you don’t have to think about changing yarn as you knit. It’s almost like having a DIY cake of yarn!

You can get the free pattern for the shawl on Ravelry.

[Photo: Maria Wellmert]

Free Knitting Pattern Zig Zag Shawl

One Skein Sock Yarn Shawl Knitting Patterns

 

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Add a Little Lace to Your Knitting Patterns

If you’re new to lace knitting or just aren’t sure how to incorporate the technique into garments, check out these tops and sweaters that use lace as a decorative element.

The easiest lace out there is eyelets, and you can practice them plenty with this eyelet covered sweater from Knitcro Addict. It uses light/DK weight yarn and is worked in four pieces knit flat. It’s intended to be a little cropped and a little oversized, and includes sizes XS to XXL in the pattern.

If you’re in parts of the world where it’s getting colder as you read this, the Nora sweater from Bummbul might be a good choice. This is actually a great one for learning lace because it’s worked in super bulky yarn, which makes it easier to see what you’re doing and makes the lace super graphic. This one just comes in one size, with a 42 inch (106) cm bust, but that could fit a variety of people depending on how much ease you like.

Minimi Knit Design has a cute allover lace cardigan worked in one piece from the bottom up. It’s worked in lace weight mohair held double, which maybe isn’t the best for those new to lace (because it can be hard to rip out) but it sure is pretty. Sizes range to fit from 30 to 66 inches/76 to 168 cm bust measurements.

If you’d rather not have lace all over your sweater, you can knit the Lumi sweater from Originally Lovely, which has a chevron lace pattern on the yoke and is otherwise worked in reverse stockinette stitch. (It’s worked inside out so you don’t have to purl every stitch.) The pattern has 9 sizes from XS to 5XL and uses worsted weight yarn.

Or try the super romantic sookie blouse from Trust the mojo (available on Ravelry). This sweet top is started working flat from the bottom up and has a V-neck and I-cord edgings. The sleeves are worked separately in the round, and the pieces are all joined together to work in one piece to finish off the top. It comes in eight sizes and is available in English and French.

You can also pair lacy sleeves with an otherwise plain top, like on the Starflower Wrap from Annelise Driscoll Gingrow. This intermediate pattern makes a wrap sweater with generous lacy sleeves and a double wrap belt. The pattern has nine sizes, from XS to 5XL, and is available for free from Hobbi.