Cartouche Shawl
I’m thrilled to announce the release of Cartouche Shawl pattern in the Deep Winter 2011 issue of Knitty.com. I started working on this shawl in April 2010 and submitted it in September to Knitty. Then the waiting began! I was over the moon when it was accepted and now it’s released and I can finally show photos of it.
The original photo shoot was done in fall and so the shawl had to be reshot to go with the deep winter theme. I’ve included both photo shoots here so I could show off my lovely friends (thanks Anita and Alana!) and the fantastic photography of Shawn.
I was paging through Japanese stitch dictionaries and found the main pattern used in this shawl. It reminded me of an Egyptian cartouche and I visualized it in a deeper vibrant red, the colour of life and victory for Ancient Egyptians.
In this top-down shawl, the stitch patterns flow seamlessly one into another. To accomplish this, transitional charts are used. These are marked as such and must be followed with extra care as stitch patterns are altered to flow into the next design.
The shawl is worked in Koigu KPM, one of my favourite yarns, but can be worked in any fingering or laceweight yarn. Several of my wonderful test knitters knit their shawls in laceweight and they are absolutely stunning.
The pattern on Knitty.com includes only the charts; however, I know many people prefer to work from written instructions. These are available for download as a PDF here.
Price: Free!
Skill Level: Advanced
Yarn: 1,400 yards of fingering weight, wool or wool blend yarn with a gauge of 5.5 sts/inch; preferably in a semi-solid or solid colour.
Sample: Koigu Premium Merino (100% Merino Wool, 175 yds / 160 m per 50 gram skein); colour 2120, Red, 8 skeins.
Finished Size:
Width: 72 inches
Length at center: 37 inches
Note: Measurements given for shawl after blocking.
Other Materials:
* Yarn needle
* Stitch markers (4)
* Cable needles (2)
* Glow line tape (to mark current row on chart)
* Fine cotton thread in contrasting colour for life-lines
* Tapestry needle
* Waste yarn in constrasting colour for grafting rows
* Blocking wires and pins
Skills Required:
* Increasing and decreasing
* Lace
* Following complex charts
* Blocking
Errata:
Chart B1
Row 11 – should begin “yo, k1” and the last two stitches should be “k1, yo.”
Row 17 is missing a yo in stitch 15.
Chart B2
Row 5 – The cable at stitch 11-12 & 27-28 is crossed the wrong way. It should be a C2BP.
Row 37 – Second stitch from beginning and the end should be a purl.
Chart B3
Row 15 – Second last stitch should be a purl.
Chart D2
Rows 36-38 – the Flower in the middle of the first and last shape are dropped one stitch down. The flower bud should start on row 37 and end on 39.
Row 42 – the first stitch is missing from the chart. It should be a purl.
Updated Charts:
Revised Chart B1
Chart B2 revised
Credits:
Photographer: Shawn Miller, Distractions in Focus
Models: Alana Krause, Anita Cloutier
Love your design, love your site, love your work! I went to elementary school in Waterloo — what a lovely city. I always try to make the patterns flow together when i’m designing so I really appreciate your design process in this shawl. Happy knitting and thanks for the gorgeous pattern.
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