The Torrey pine (Pinus torreyana) is a tree endemic to coastal Southern California. Found nowhere else in the world, it clings to sandy bluffs, perched between sea and sky.

Torreyana also is suspended between worlds. Is it lace? Or maybe cables? The Estonian inspired stitches incorporate both, letting the sinuous spirals of pine cone scales echo in the shawl.

And as the Torrey pines twine their branches skyward, and their roots downward into the earth, Torreyana also grows in two directions. Beginning in the middle, first knit upwards, then downwards, the lace patterns themselves incorporate a half stitch offset, so the edge motifs continue seamlessly.

Torreyana has shoulder shaping built into the charts that gives it an almost Faroese silhouette.

SIZE
Scarf [Shoulderette, Small Shawl, Full-Sized Shawl]

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS

Black Lace Weight Scarf (with Chainlink Selvedge):
Length at center back: 20 inches
Width: 44 inches

Petrol Fingering Weight Shoulderette (with I-cord Selvedge):
Length at center back: 21 inches
Width: 48 inches

Silver Worsted Weight Small Shawl (with I-cord Selvedge):
Length at center back: 27 inches
Width: 64 inches

Handspun Fingering Weight Full-Sized Shawl (with Chainlink Selvedge):
Length at center back: 33 inches
Width: 58 inches

MATERIALS

YARN

Note for All Versions: For each shawl, two circular needles are required. It is useful to have needles that are different colors or types, so that they are easy to tell apart when beginning the shawl body. Use needles that are 32 inches or longer.

Black Lace Weight Scarf [below]:
Misti Alpaca Lace [100% Baby Alpaca; 437yd/400m per 50g skein]; color: Black; 1 skein
Note: Scarf shown required approx. 430yd/395m. Buy a second skein to be safe.

approx. 225 beads (size 6)

Recommended needle size:
[always use a needle size that gives you the gauge listed below -- every knitter's gauge is unique]
2 US #5/3.75mm circular needles (see note above)
Crochet hook for placing beads (size 13/0.75mm)

Petrol Fingering Weight Shoulderette [below]:
Sleeping Dragon Yarns Wooly Bamboo [65% Superwash Merino, 35% Bamboo; 400yd/366m per 84g skein]; color: Petrol; 1 skein
Note: Scarf shown required approx. 395yd/362m.

approx. 200 beads (size 6)

Recommended needle size:
[always use a needle size that gives you the gauge listed below -- every knitter's gauge is unique]
2 US #8/5mm circular needles (see note above)
Crochet hook for placing beads (size 13/0.75mm)

Silver Worsted Weight Small Shawl [below]:
Plymouth Royal Bamboo [100% bamboo; 93yd/85m per 50g skein]; color: 3; 6 skeins
Note: Shawl required approx. 550yd/503m. Buy an extra skein to be safe.

approx. 250 beads (size 2)

Recommended needle size:
[always use a needle size that gives you the gauge listed below -- every knitter's gauge is unique]
2 US #8/5mm circular needles (see note above)
Crochet hook for placing beads (size 10/1mm)

Handspun Fingering Weight Full-Sized Shawl [below]:
Exclusively by LindaLee [100% Bamboo top; very approximately 900yd/823m per 8oz/224g skein, 27wpi single]; color: Blue Bajou; 1 skein.
Note: Shawl shown required entire skein. No beads were used for this shawl, but if you chose to bead it, it would require approx. 400 beads.

Recommended needle size:
[always use a needle size that gives you the gauge listed below -- every knitter's gauge is unique]
2 US #6/4mm circular needles (see note above)

GAUGE

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

Directions for blocking a lace shawl may be found here.

Instructions for grafting can be found here.

Estonian Stitches:
This shawl was inspired by three stitch patterns from Pitsilised Koekirjad, an Estonian stitch dictionary. This book does not give names for individual stitch patterns. Here I refer to them by pine tree elements they resemble. I modified the original stitch designs so that the repeat lengths match and the patterns flow from one stitch to the next.
For an excellent description of Estonian lace stitches, see this site.

For more examples of the beautiful stitches originating in Estonia, take a look at the Estonian Lace Study.

For a history of Estonian lace knitting, as well as many beautiful Estonian shawls, both traditional and contemporary, see Knitted Lace of Estonia: Techniques, Patterns, and Traditions, by Nancy Bush and The Haapsalu Shawl: A Knitted Lace Tradition from Estonia by Siri Reimann and Aime Edasi.

Symmetry: As written, this shawl is not strictly symmetrical; some of the stitches have a directional slant, like the N stitches and cable crosses. If you wish to make a completely symmetrical shawl, work as follows on the left half of the shawl:

• Work C5B and C6B instead of C5F and C6F.
• Work Reverse N stitches instead of N stitches.
• Work Reverse sk2p instead of sk2p.
• At center of Row 3 of Edging Chart, work k2tog instead of ssk.

Note that the left half of the shawl (as it will be worn) will be the second half when working the body, but will be the first half when working the edging.

Modifying the size:
This pattern is modular; its size is determined by the number of edging motifs worked, and by the number of times the Pine Cone Chart is worked before switching to the Transition Chart and then the Pine Nut Chart.

Because the shawl begins near the bottom edge, the number of sts to be cast on must be determined before beginning. After deciding the number of motifs on each side of the shawl, and the type of selvedge, use these formulas to calculate the correct number of cast on stitches for the Edging needle:

I-cord Selvedge: (Number of Edging Motifs x 20) + 25 = Number of Edge Stitches
Chainlink Selvedge: (Number of Edging Motifs x 20) + 43 = Number of Edge Stitches

For example:
Black Lace weight Scarf with Chainlink Selvedge:
(15 Edging Motifs x 20) + 43 = 343 Edge Stitches

Petrol Fingering weight Shoulderette with I-cord Selvedge:
(15 Edging Motifs x 20) + 25 = 325 Edge Stitches

Silver Worsted weight Small Shawl with I-cord Selvedge:
(16 Edging Motifs x 20) + 25 = 345 Edge Stitches

Handspun Fingering weight Shawl with Chainlink Selvedge:
(21 Edging Motifs x 20) + 43 = 463 Edge Stitches

The Pine Cone Chart can be repeated any number of times before switching to the Transition Chart and then the Pine Nut Chart. To complete all charts, however, requires starting the Transition Chart with at least 3 cable crossings in each half of the shawl, over the last repeat of the Pine Cone chart.
The decrease rate is much faster in the Pine Nut chart. As a result, working fewer Pine Cone repeats and more Pine Nut repeats will give a more dramatic “more than a triangle” shape to the shawl (a deeper V shape in the center when laid flat). It will also require less yarn. The contrast between these two shapes can be seen by looking at the silhouettes of the Petrol shoulderette (with 1 repeat of the Pine Cone Chart) and the Handspun full-sized shawl (with 7 repeats of the Main Pine Cone Chart).

Working the Edging before finishing the body can help determine how much yarn you have, and therefore how many repeats you can make of the Pine Cone Chart. However, work at least one Pine Cone repeat before starting the edging. The edging chart begins with cable crosses in the first row. These do not work well directly from the provisional cast-on!

Pattern repeats when working from charts: The red vertical lines indicate the edges of the pattern repeats. Work the stitches to the right of the red lines, repeat the stitches between the red lines until just enough stitches remain to work the stitches to the left of the red lines.

Stitch Markers:
Stitch markers are used to separate the selvedge sts from the shawl body, and for indicating the center of the shawl. If you also wish to use stitch markers between each pattern repeat to keep track of the lace patterns, note that there will be points in some charts where decreases within the pattern will necessitate moving the markers. They will also need to be re-set at the beginning of each chart repeat.

k3tog: K 3 sts together.

sssk: Sl next 3 sts knitwise, one at a time, to right needle. Insert left needle into fronts of these 3 sts and knit them together.

S2KP: Sl next 2 sts together, knitwise, as if to work a k2tog. K next st, then pass both slipped sts over st just knit. This forms a centered double decrease.

sk2p: Sl 1 knitwise, k2tog, pass slipped st over. 2 sts decreased.

Reverse sk2p: Ssk, sl new stitch purlwise back to left needle, pass next stitch on left needle over new stitch. Sl new stitch purlwise back to right needle. 2 sts decreased.

C5F: Sl 2 sts to cable needle and hold to front of work; k3 from left needle, k2 from cable needle. This results in 2 stitches crossing over 3 stitches.

C6F: Sl 3 sts to cable needle and hold to front of work; k3 from left needle, k3 from cable needle.

C5B: Sl 3 sts to cable needle and hold to back of work; k2 from left needle, k3 from cable needle. This results in 2 stitches crossing over 3 stitches.

C6B: Sl 3 sts to cable needle and hold to back of work; k3 from left needle, k3 from cable needle.

N st: Sl 1 knitwise, k2, pass slipped st over both sts just knit. 3 sts decreased to 2 sts.

Reverse N st: K2, sl 2 sts just worked back to left needle purlwise, pass next stich on left needle over two new sts. Sl 2 new sts back to right needle purlwise. 3 sts decreased to 2 sts.

Beads and Nupps:
At the indicated points within the charts, either a bead may be placed, or a nupp may be worked. You may wish to try both while swatching, to see which you prefer.

Beads: Beads are placed on RS rows using a crochet hook. To apply a bead to a st, slip bead onto crochet hook, slip st from left needle onto hook, slide bead down hook and around st, slip st back onto left needle, then k st as usual. Detailed directions can be found here.

Nupp (5-stitch – shown on Handspun Shawl): [K1, yo, k1, yo, k1] into same st. 1 st increased to 5 sts. On following WS row, purl these 5 sts together.
Note: In a non-elastic yarn such as bamboo, it is particularly important to make the Nupp increase stitches very loosely. The stitches should each be approx. 0.5 inch long! It helps to use a finger to hold each new stitch in place so that you do not inadvertently tighten the last increase while making the next one. On the WS row, when you insert the right hand needle to purl the stitches together, if you have made the stitches loose enough, not only should it be easy to insert the needle, you should be able to see space between the two needles.

Selvedges:
There is a choice of two selvedges: I-cord or Chainlink.

I-cord Selvedge:
I-Cord Selvedge is worked over 3 sts at each side of shawl. Selvedge stitches are worked twice on each right side row, and slipped on wrong side rows.

RS Rows: K3, sl 3 sts just worked back to left needle purlwise with yarn held to back of work, k same 3 sts again; slip marker, work shawl body in pattern to last marker, slip marker; k3,  sl 3 sts just worked back to left needle purlwise with yarn held to back of work, k same 3 sts again.
WS Rows: Sl 3 sts purlwise with yarn held to front of work; slip marker, work shawl body in pattern to last marker, slip marker; sl  3 sts purlwise with yarn held to front of work.

Chainlink Selvedge:
Chainlink Selvedge is worked over 12 sts at each side of shawl, which increases to 13 sts in Row 1 of chart and decreases back to 12 sts in Row 7 of chart.

All Rows: Sl 1 purlwise with yarn held to front of work, bring yarn between needles to back of work, k1, work row of Chainlink Selvedge Chart; slip marker, work shawl body in pattern to last marker, slip marker; work row of Chainlink Selvedge Chart, k2.
Note: It is important to keep the slipped edge sts very loose, so the shawl will block properly. Don't worry if these sts look loose and sloppy before blocking.

Selvedges for Fast Decrease Rate (Transition and Pine Nut Charts):
The Pine Nut Chart has an extremely fast decrease rate. To make the selvedges lie smooth while working the Transition Chart and the Pine Nut Chart, it is necessary to knit more rows in the selvedge than in the body of the shawl. (When working the Final Pine Nut Chart, however, return to working selvedges at the usual rate. This will cause the center neck edge to draw in slightly and fit nicely around your neck.)

I-cord Selvedge:
For the I-cord selvedge, the selvedge sts are slipped and knitted one extra time on each RS row, so that the I-cord stitches are knit three times each RS row, instead of twice.

RS Rows: K3, [sl 3 sts just worked back to left needle purlwise with yarn held to back of work, k same 3 sts again] twice; slip marker, work shawl body in pattern to last marker, slip marker; k3, [sl 3 sts just worked back to left needle purlwise with yarn held to back of work, k same 3 sts again] twice.
WS Rows: Work as for regular selvedge.

Chainlink Selvedge:
For the Chainlink Selvedge for extreme decrease rate, short rows provide the necessary extra length. Four rows of the Chainlink Selvedge Chart are worked for every 2 rows of the Transition and Pine Nut charts. Because this is lace knitting, the holes formed by turning the short rows become part of the pattern, and there is no need to do fancy ticks to hide them.

RS Rows: *Sl 1 purlwise with yarn held to front of work, bring yarn between needles to back of work, k1, work row of Chainlink Selvedge Chart*, turn work; work row of Chainlink Selvedge Chart, k2, turn work; repeat from * to * once more; slip marker, work shawl body in pattern to last marker, slip marker; **work row of Chainlink Selvedge Chart, k2**, turn work; sl 1 purlwise with yarn held to front of work, bring yarn between needles to back of work, k1, work row of Chainlink Selvedge Chart, turn work; work from ** to ** once more.
WS Rows: Work as for regular selvedge.

DIRECTIONS

Casting On:
This shawl begins with a provisional cast on, worked at what will become the border between the shawl body and the edging. To avoid having to pick up hundreds of stitches from an ordinary provisional cast on, Judy’s Magic Cast-On is recommended, worked using two circular needles. This way, when it comes time to work the edging, the edging sts are already waiting on a needle.

Note: Judy’s Magic Cast-on creates 2 rows of stitches. If some other provisional cast on is used that creates a single row of stitches, work one wrong side row in plain purl before beginning First Pine Cone Chart.

Hold the Edging Needle on top [Judy’s Needle #2] and the Body Needle on the bottom [Judy’s Needle #1].

Wind off enough yarn for the tail, and make a small butterfly or yarn ball from it. To determine how much yarn to use for your tail, cast on one tenth the total number of stitches, mark the yarn, unravel, and multiply the length of the tail used by 11 [to give a safety margin].

Hold the yarn with the main ball coming over your forefinger, and the tail going under your thumb. Attach the yarn to the Edging needle for the first stitch.
Repeat the cast on until the required number of stitches (see below) are on the Edging needle (top needle - Judy’s Needle #2). Stop here without putting the final stitch on the Body Needle (bottom needle - Judy’s Needle #1). There will be one stitch less on the Body Needle than on the Edging Needle.

Note: Due to the large number of stitches being cast on, there is one suggested modification to Judy’s technique. As each stitch is cast on, some twist is removed from the yarn by the Edging needle. Wrapping the Edging needle (top needle - Judy’s Needle #2) counter clockwise (instead of clockwise) prevents this. As an added bonus, wrapping counter clockwise seats the stitches correctly, and the stitches do not have to be un-crossed on the first row of the Edging chart.

If using I-cord Selvedge, CO 325[325, 345, 445] sts (Body Needle will hold 324[324, 344, 444] sts).
If using Chainlink Selvedge, CO 343[343, 363, 463] sts (Body Needle will hold 342[342, 362, 462] sts).

Shawl body is worked over sts on Body Needle.

First Pine Cone Chart:
Setup Row: Work first row of chosen selvedge, place marker, work Row 1 of First Pine Cone Chart, working outlined pattern repeat 13[13, 14, 19] times, place marker (you will be at center of row); work Row 1 of chart again, working outlined pattern repeat 13[13, 14, 19] times, place marker work first row of chosen selvedge.

If working I-cord Selvedge, you will now have 312[312, 332, 432] sts; if working Chainlink Selvedge, you will now have 332[332, 352, 452] sts.

Note: When working body of shawl (Pine Cone and Pine Nut Charts), there is no center stitch; center of shawl is indicated by stitch marker. After working selvedge at beginning of row as set, work first half of shawl body following chart, slip center marker, work second half of shawl body in the same way as first half, then work selvedge at end of row as set.

Work Rows 2-8 of First Pine Cone Chart. 288[288, 308, 408] sts with I-cord Selvedge; 306[306, 326, 426] sts with Chainlink Selvedge.

Tip: Before beginning row 8, look at WS of work. There will be columns of single knit stitches. These columns will be used later as guideposts to line up the Edge Setup chart. To make them easier to spot, as you work row 8, at each knit stitch, attach a removable stitch marker or coilless safety pin directly to the stitch (not to the needle).

Main Pine Cone Chart:
Work Rows 1-8 of Main Pine Cone Chart 3[1, 3, 8] times. 228[268, 248, 248] sts with I-cord Selvedge; 246[286, 266, 266] sts with Chainlink Selvedge.

Transition Chart:
Work Rows 1-8 of Transition Chart, working selvedges for fast decrease rate (see Pattern Notes). 132[156, 144, 144] sts with I-cord Selvedge; 150[174, 162, 162] sts with Chainlink Selvedge.

Final Pine Nut Chart:
Because of the unusual decrease rate in the Pine Nut chart (three N stitches are decreased in each half of the shawl body every 4 rows), the final repeat of this chart may have four, five, or six N stitches in each half of the shawl body. The number of N stitches in the final repeat determines which version of the Final Pine Nut Chart should be used.

Using Version B[C, A, A] of chart, work all rows of Final Pine Nut Chart, working selvedges as usual (not for fast decrease rate). If working Chainlink Selvedge and Version C, do not work yo at center of selvedge when working Row 9 of Final Pine Nut Chart.  8 sts remain with I-cord Selvedge; 26 sts remain with Chainlink Selvedge.

Divide remaining sts in half, sliding each half to separate ends of circular needle. Fold work in half so that live sts meet, and graft halves together.

EDGING

Edging Setup Chart:
With RS facing, join yarn to sts on Edging Needle. (Yarn will be joined at opposite end from yarn tail from CO.) 325[325, 345, 445] sts on needle if working I-cord Selvedge; 343[343, 363, 463] sts if working Chainlink Selvedge.

To line up motifs, the C6F cable cross in Row 1 of Edging Setup Chart will be centered over the single columns of k sts visible on WS of Pine Cone section of shawl body. Because the Edging is knit downwards from a provisional cast on, the stitches in Row 1 are offset half a stitch. The ssk in the center of each repeat in row 3 adjusts for this, lining up the lace motifs with those in the shawl body.

Important: Unlike the shawl body, the Edging Setup section of the shawl has a center st between the two halves of the shawl. Work this st in stockinette st.

Work Row 1 of Edging Setup Chart and set up selvedges follows:

Chainlink Selvedge [shown below]:When working Edging Setup Chart over main portion of shawl, Chainlink Selvedge Edging Setup Chart will be worked over selvedge sts.

Row 1 [RS]: Sl 1, k1, work Row 1 of Chainlink Selvedge Edging Setup Chart, place marker; work Row 1 of Edging Setup Chart, working outlined pattern repeat 15[15, 16, 21] times; place marker, k1, place marker; work Row 1 of Edging Setup Chart, working outlined pattern repeat 15[15, 16, 21] times; place marker, work Row 1 of Chainlink Selvedge Edging Setup Chart, k2. 375[375, 397, 507] sts.

As you work the Edging Setup section, continue to work Chainlink Selvedge Edging Setup Chart over selvedge sts as set.

Both Versions: Work Rows 2-10 of Edging Setup Chart, working selvedges as set. 347[347, 367, 467] sts with I-cord Selvedge; 385[385, 405, 505] sts with Chainlink Selvedge.

Main Edging Chart:
This portion of the shawl is worked without a center st or marker. Instead, the Main Edging Chart is repeated across entire width of shawl without attention to the center.

Work Row 1 of Main Edging Chart and set up selvedges follows:

I-cord Selvedge: There will no longer be 1 st between selvedge sts and edging sts. Remove markers when working Row 1.

Row 1 [RS]: Work I-cord Selvedge over first 3 sts, work Row 1 of Main Edging Chart, working outlined pattern repeat 33[33, 35, 45] times; work I-cord Selvedge over last 3 sts.

Chainlink Selvedge: First and last 2 sts of each row will be worked in garter stitch as set; all other sts will be worked following Main Edging chart. Remove markers when working Row 1.

Row 1 [WS]: Sl 1, k1, work Row 1 of Main Edging Chart, working outlined pattern repeat 37[37, 39, 49] times; k2.

Both Versions: Work Rows 2-8 of Main Edging Chart, working selvedges as set. 283[283, 299, 379] sts with I-cord Selvedge; 313[283, 299, 409] sts with Chainlink Selvedge.

BO Row [RS]: Using two strands of yarn held together, p2, [sl both sts back to left needle and p2tog, p1] to last st, sl both sts back to left needle and p2tog. Break yarn and draw through last st.

FINISHING
Weave in ends.
Following directions here, block shawl. The shawl will block to more than a triangle with S-curves on top edge. Allow shawl to dry completely before unpinning.

Elizabeth Freeman counts trees and crunches numbers for a living, and has been known to bring her lace knitting along on wilderness backpacking trips