INTRODUCTION

Wings for Nightbird

by Teresa Yoon

I've always wanted to design knitwear that could tell fantastic and marvelous stories to the ones who wear them.

So I came up with a romantic story in which a wearer could turn into a beautiful bird by wearing a wing-patterned, magical shawl.

In this story, a guy who survived from a airplane crash finds four beautiful girls in a moonlit forest. He instantly gets captivated by one of the girls whose skin, hair, and eyes gleams under the silvery moonlight.

Mesmerized, he tries to take a step forward to have a better look at her, but accidentally steps on a twig, making a sudden noise.

The girls, who get surprised by the unexpected guest, put their lacy wing-like shawl around their shoulder in hurry. Then they turn into big beautiful birds and fly away into the dark side of the sky, leaving the moon behind.

model: So Jeong Yoon

photos: Teresa Yoon

SIZE

One
But you can make your own wing in your desired size, changing weight of yarn and needles!

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS

Dark Red wing/Aran weight:
Width: 65 inches/165cm
Height: 32 inches/80cm

Blue wing/Sport weight:
Width: 49 inches/124cm
Height: 23.5 inches/60cm

Mint wing/DK weight:
Width: 41.5 inches/105cm
Height: 17.5 inches/44 cm

MATERIALS

Blue wing/Sport weight:
Kauni wool 8/2 solids [100% wool; 600m per 150g ball]; color: FF1 ; 1 ball

Dark Red wing/Aran weight:
Knit Love Lautrec [95% wool, 5% acrylic; 133m per 80g ball]; color: wine; 4 balls

Mint wing/DK weight:
Knit Love Vincent [95% wool, 5% acrylic; 290m per 60g ball]; color: 2267 grey sky; 2 balls

Recommended needle size
[always use a needle size that gives you the gauge listed below - every knitter's gauge is unique]

For Dark Red wing/Aran weight:
40-inch US #11/8mm circular needle for

For Blue wing/Sport weight and Mint wing/DK weight:
40-inch US #7/4.5mm circular needle for Mint and Blue wing.

Notions
yarn needle

GAUGE

Dark Red wing/Aran weight:18 sts/22 rows = 4 inches/10cm in pattern stitch after blocking
Blue wing/Sport weight: 20 sts/24 rows = 4 inches/10cm in pattern stitch after blocking
Mint wing/DK weight: 27 sts/29 rows= 4 inches/10cm in pattern stitch after blocking

PATTERN NOTES

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

This shawl is worked from the outer edge to the center. This makes for a long cast on row, but you can look forward to the stitches being decreased by half on every decrease row. This is, in fact, a reverse Pi shawl.

Instructions for grafting can be found here.

CHARTS

DIRECTIONS

With Knitted Cast On method, CO 293 sts.
Knit 1 row.

Chart A:
Row 1 [RS]: K3, work Chart A, working repeat 23 times across, k3.
Row 2 [WS]: K3, work Chart A as set, k3.

Repeat Rows 1-2 14 more times.

Note: If you want a longer and bigger wing you can repeat more rows of chart A.

Decrease A:
Dec row [RS]: K3, (k2tog, k2tog, sk2p, k2tog, k2tog, k1) repeat until 14 sts remain, k2tog, k2tog, sk2p, k2tog, k2tog, k3. 149 sts.
Next row [WS]: K3, p to last 3 sts, k3.

Chart B:
Row 1 [RS]: K3, work Chart B working repeat 11 times across, k3.
Row 2 [WS]: K3, work Chart B as set, k3.
Work Rows 1-36 of Chart B then work Rows 1-18 once more.

Note: Pay careful attention to Row 35 – there are decreases in the edging.

Decrease B:
Dec row [RS]: K3, k3tog, (k1, k3tog) to last 3 sts, yo, k3. 78 sts.
Next row [WS]: K3, p to last 3 sts, k3.

Chart C-1:
Row 1 [RS]: K3, work Chart C working repeat 24 times across, k3.
Row 2 [WS]: K3, work Chart C as set, k3.

Work as set until you have worked all 6 rows of Chart C 3 times – 18 rows total.

Decrease C:
Dec row [RS]: K3, k3tog to last 3 sts, k3. 30 sts.
Next row [WS]: K3, p to last 3 sts, k3.

Chart C-2:
Row 1 [RS]: K3, work Chart C working repeat 8 times across, k3.
Row 2 [WS]: K3, work Chart C as set, k3.

Work as set until you have worked all 6 rows of Chart C once.

Decrease C2:
Dec row [RS]: K3, k3tog to last 3 sts, k3. 14 sts.
Next row [WS]: K3, p to last 3 sts, k3.

I-cord Bind Off
Row 1 [RS]: K2, SSK, turn
Row 2 [WS]: K3.
Repeat these 2 rows 8 times, until 6 edge sts remain.

FINISHING

Divide the stitches up at the center point, 3 stitches on each side. Graft them together.

Weave in ends.

Block, noting that the edge of chart A part won’t be straight across. See diagram – the edge of that portion will be at a slight angle, about 30 degrees.

ABOUT THE DESIGNER

Teresa is a Korean knitting designer and web-cartoonist. She loves video games, anime and comic books from which she draws lots of inspirations! She has been publishing a web-comic about knitting tutorials which is called Shuei’s Knitting Note for over 3 years.

Her blog is only written in Korean, but you can find her on Ravelry.

Pattern & images © 2016 Teresa Yoon. Contact Teresa