INTRODUCTION

Alfareria

by Sarah Ellis

Faroese shawl shaping is a simple, but elegant solution to the age-old problem of keeping a shawl on your shoulders. But why limit this shaping to lace patterning? (No insult intended to lace knitters…I'm a lace fanatic too, but I need variety.) Colorwork also looks great in a Faroese shape.

This shawl is a top-down Faroese-style with mosaic colorwork worked with two colors. I chose single-ply yarns for this project, because I love the look of singles in elongated stitches. The beginning tab is worked in stripes to better match the rest of the selvedge. Increases are worked on the wrong side and twisted to resemble make ones on the right side, which allows for keeping the stitches in pattern all the way to the selvedge.

The edging is a few rows of garter mosaic so the edging blends in nicely with the main pattern, and the bind-off is worked with both yarns for a braided look.

‘Alfarería' is the Spanish word for pottery. Well, one of them anyway. There's also ‘cerámica', but that term more specifically refers to ceramics. The geometric forms of mosaic knitting make me think of ornamentation on pottery.

model: Sarah Ellis

photos: Martha Ellis

SIZE

Shawlette[Shawl]

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS

SHAWLETTE [shown below]
Width: 50 inches/127cm
Length: 16 inches/41cm

SHAWL [shown above]
Width: 75 inches/191cm
Length: 24 inches/61cm

MATERIALS

SHAWLETTE
Yarn
Araucanía Yarns Ñuble [75% extrafine merino wool/ 25% silk; 272 yd/250 m per 1.76 oz/50 g skein]
[MC] 10 (greens blue tan); 1 skein
[CC] 09 (brown red orange); 1 skein
Note: these colors are discontinued, although this yarn is still in production.

Recommended needle size
[always use a needle size that gives you the gauge listed below - every knitter's gauge is unique]
US #5/3.75mm circular needle, 24-40 inches/60-100cm long

SHAWL
Yarn
Malabrigo Yarn Mechita [100% superwash merino; 420 yd/ 384 m per 3.5 oz/100 g skein]
[MC] 885 Arequita; 1 skein
[CC] 131 Sand Bank; 1 skein

Recommended needle size
[always use a needle size that gives you the gauge listed below - every knitter's gauge is unique]
US #6/4mm circular needle, 24-40 inches/60-100cm long

Notions
4 stitch markers
yarn needle
T-pins for blocking

GAUGE

SHAWLETTE
25 sts/34 rows = 4 inches/10 cm in stockinette stitch

SHAWL
22 sts/32 rows = 4 inches/10 cm in stockinette stitch

PATTERN NOTES

[Knitty's list of standard abbreviations and techniques can be found here.]

The stitch pattern is a mosaic pattern. All slip stitches in pattern are slipped purlwise (with the exception of slipped increases, which are twisted), with the yarn held to the back on the right side, and to the front on the wrong side. This applies to both the main stockinette mosaic pattern and the garter mosaic of the edging.

Increases are worked on the wrong side, in the form of yarn overs, then twisted on the right side to look like make one increases. The increases are worked this way to ensure that the edge remains stretchy. This is particularly important since some of the increase stitches are slipped for two rows after being made, the yarn over method keeps those slipped stitches from getting too tight.

If the striped garter tab is too difficult, try a single color garter tab using CC until the setup charts.

The side triangles and the center panel have different row multiple counts (16 rows vs 12 rows).

Keep track of pattern repeats based on the outer triangles, a.k.a Body Pattern.

Abbreviations:
kLT: knit stitch through the back loop
kRT: slip stitch knitwise to right needle, transfer back to left needle and knit it
slLT: insert needle as if to purl through back loop, slip stitch to right needle
slRT: slip stitch knitwise

Technique:

• Decrease Bind off

CHARTS

Important note: In the Edging, the same charts are used, but the WS rows are knit rather than purled.
Instructions are given in the Edging section below.

DIRECTIONS

Striped Garter tab
With MC, CO 3 sts.
Row 1 [WS]: With MC, k across.
Row 2 [RS]: With CC, k across.
Row 3 [WS]: With CC, k across.
Row 4 [RS]: With MC, k across.
Row 5 [WS]: With MC, k across.
Repeat Rows 2-5 twice more.

Next row [RS]: With CC, knit across 3 sts, turn work 90 degrees and pick up and knit 7 sts along the edge of the strip just worked, turn work 90 degrees and pick up and knit 3 sts. 13 sts.
Next row [WS]: With CC, k3, YO, p1, YO, pm, k2, pm, YO, p1, YO, pm, k2, pm, YO, p1, YO, k3. 19 sts.

The shawl has a center panel and two side triangles, with 2-stitch garter stitch spines dividing them. The markers designate those spines.

Setup charts
Row 1 [RS]: With MC, k3, work Right Setup Chart to marker, slip marker, k2, slip marker, work Center Setup Chart to marker, slip marker, k2, slip marker, work Left Setup Chart to last 3 sts, k3.
Row 2 [WS]: With MC, k3, work Left Setup Chart to marker, slip marker, k2, slip marker, work Center Setup Chart to marker, slip marker, k2, slip marker, work Right Setup Chart to last 3sts, k3. 6 sts increased.
Row 3 [RS]: With CC, k3, work Right Setup Chart to marker, slip marker, k2, slip marker, work Center Setup Chart to marker, slip marker, k2, slip marker, work Left Setup Chart to last 3 sts, k3.
Row 4 [WS]: With CC, k3, work Left Setup Chart to marker, slip marker, k2, slip marker, work Center Setup Chart to marker, slip marker, k2, slip marker, work Right Setup Chart to last 3sts, k3. 6 sts increased.

Repeat Rows 1-4 three times more. 67 sts.
Note: Left and Right Setup Charts are complete, but 20 more rows remain of Center Setup Chart.

Row 1 [RS]: With MC, k3, work Right Body Chart to marker, slip marker, k2, slip marker, work Center Setup Chart to marker, slip marker, k2, slip marker, work Left Body Chart to last 3 sts, k3.
Row 2 [WS]: With MC, k3, work Left Body Chart to marker, slip marker, k2, slip marker, work Center Setup Chart to marker, slip marker, k2, slip marker, work Right Body Chart to last 3 sts, k3. 6 sts increased.
Row 3 [RS]: With CC, k3, work Right Body Chart to marker, slip marker, k2, slip marker, work Center Setup Chart to marker, slip marker, k2, slip marker, work Left Body Chart to last 3 sts, k3.
Row 4 [WS]: With CC, k3, work Left Body Chart to marker, slip marker, k2, slip marker, work Center Setup Chart to marker, slip marker, k2, slip marker, work Right Body Chart to last 3 sts, k3. 6 sts increased.
Repeat Rows 1-4 three times more, then Rows 1-3 once more. 121 sts.
Remove innermost two markers surrounding the Center Panel.

Next row [WS]: With CC, k3, work Left Body Chart to marker, slip marker, k2, work Center Setup Chart over next 37 sts, k2, slip marker, work Right Body Chart to last 3 sts, k3. 4 sts increased. 125 sts.

Body charts
Note: No more increases will be worked in the Center Panel, so that area will remain a constant 37 stitches wide to the end.


Body charts continue here, with Row 21.

Row 1 [RS]: With MC, k3, work Right Body Chart to marker, slip marker, k2, work Center Panel chart across next 37 sts, k2, slip marker, work Left Body Chart to last 3 sts, k3.
Row 2 [WS]: With MC, k3, work Left Body Chart to marker, slip marker, k2, work Center Panel chart across next 37 sts, k2, slip marker, work Right Body Chart to last 3 sts, k3. 4 sts increased.
Row 3 [RS]: With CC, k3, work Right Body Chart to marker, slip marker, k2, work Center Panel chart across next 37 sts, k2, slip marker, work Left Body Chart to last 3 sts, k3.
Row 4 [WS]: With CC, k3, work Left Body Chart to marker, slip marker, k2, work Center Panel chart across next 37 sts, k2, slip marker, work Right Body Chart to last 3 sts, k3. 4 sts increased.

Continue as set until you have worked 4[6] 32-row repeats of Left and Right Body Chart, then work Rows 1-24[1-8] of Body Charts once more. 389[485] sts.

Edging
Note: Edging is worked in garter mosaic, so slip stitches are slipped in exactly the same manner as before, but on WS rows, the purl stitches are worked as knit stitches. Continue with row 25[9] of Left and Right Body Charts.

Row 1 [RS]: With MC, k3, work Right Body Chart to marker, slip marker, k2, work Center Panel Chart across next 37 sts, k2, slip marker, work Left Body Chart to last 3 sts, k3.
Row 2 [WS]: With MC, k3, work Left Body Chart to marker (knitting the purl stitches), slip marker, k2, work Center Panel chart across next 37 sts (knitting the purl stitches), k2, slip marker, work Left Body Chart to last 3 sts (knitting the purl stitches), k3. 4 sts increased.
Row 3 [RS]: With CC, k3, work Right Body Chart to marker, slip marker, k2, work Center Panel Chart across next 37 sts, k2, slip marker, work Left Body Chart to last 3 sts, k3.
Row 4 [WS]: With CC, k3, work Left Body Chart to marker (knitting the purl stitches), slip marker, k2, work Center Panel chart across next 37 sts (knitting the purl stitches), k2, slip marker, work Left Body Chart to last 3 sts (knitting the purl stitches), k3. 4 sts increased.
Repeat Rows 1-3 once more. 395[491] sts.

Row 8 [WS]: With CC, k3, omit edge yarn overs and work Left Body Chart to marker (knitting the purl stitches), remove marker, k2, work Center Panel chart across next 37 sts (knitting the purl stitches), k2, remove marker, omit edge yarn overs and work Right Body Chart to last 3 sts (knitting the purl stitches), k3. No stitches increased.

With MC and CC held together, bind off using the decrease bind-off.

|

FINISHING

Weave in ends, and wet block shawl. If using T-pins, pinning should only be necessary for corners and the bottom of the center panel.

ABOUT THE DESIGNER

Sarah Ellis recently moved back to Central Texas after spending almost three years in Lawrence, Kansas. She also recently finished a coding boot camp program in full stack web development, and hopefully will have her first dev job by the time this pattern is published.

You can find her on Instagram and Ravelry.

Pattern & images © 2018 Sarah Ellis.