INTRODUCTION

Paper Crane

by Sara Lucas

I love to knit shawls but I just can't talk myself into wearing one and spending all day fussing with it. So I am mostly resigned to shawls being the wardrobe of more elegant women. Mostly, but not entirely.

This shawl combines a simple stitch pattern with a shape that doesn't much care about specific stitch count, to give you a rhythmic, stress-free knitting experience. The asymmetrical design and a slightly far east feel result in a dramatic showcase for Freia's gorgeous ombre yarn. And it is easily wearable with or without a shawl pin.

model: Erica Mach

photos: Tina Whitmore

SIZE

One

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS

Width: 70 inches/178 cm
Length: 65 inches/165 cm
As shown. See Pattern Notes and Gauge for more information

MATERIALS

Yarn
Freia Fine Handpaints Yarn Bomb [100% cruelty-free US Merino; 860 yd/786 m per 7.06 oz/200 g ball]; color: Dahlia; 1 ball

Recommended needle size
[always use a needle size that gives you the gauge listed below - every knitter's gauge is unique]
US #6/4mm needles for working flat (recommend 24-inch circular based on number of stitches at widest point)

Notions
small electronic scale (if you don't have a kitchen scale, you can borrow the one at your local grocery store or post office)
row counter or paper and pen
yarn needle
blocking mats, wires, pins as desired

GAUGE

20 sts/32 rows = 4 inches/10 cm in stockinette stitch
24 sts/42 rows = 4 inches/10 cm in pattern stitch after a light blocking
20 sts/40 rows = 4 inches/10 cm in pattern stitch after heavy blocking (as pictured)

Note: Size and gauge information provided in this pattern (except for the St st gauge) is extremely subjective based on how heavily the knitting is blocked, as it is with any ribbed pattern. A lighter hand on blocking will result in a more textured, smaller piece with almost capelet-like dimensions. Stretching it out will result in a more traditional shawl size and a flatter stitch pattern (as pictured). If you aren't sure which you will prefer, block it lightly once and see…you can always block it again to a bigger size if you decide that is what you want.

PATTERN NOTES

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

Important tips:

• All COs are worked with the Cable method.
• On a row where you are casting on at the start, the stitch instructions include instructions for working over the newly cast-on stitches.
• Piece is knit from back corner to front right.
• You will need to keep the stitch pattern going in the midst of increases (actually cast-on sts) and then decreases:
  • At the beginning of each row, find an identifying stitch and count back from there to the first stitch in the row. For example, on the RS, you will always k2tog over the last k2tog and the purl stitch in front of it. On the WS you will always purl the yo and the stitch after it. So you can use those as landmarks for where you are in the pattern.
  • When in doubt, knit.
  • Don't do a yarn over without its partner k2tog and vice versa. (Exception – in the first row there is a yarn without a k2tog specifically for the purpose of increasing stitch count.)
  • Don't put a yarn over any closer to the edge of the row than 2 stitches (including the k2tog).
  • Sometimes the shaping decrease could interfere with the stitch pattern's k2tog. In that case, work k3tog to maintain the pattern and complete the decrease.
  • To keep track of the decrease and increase rows, use a row counter or paper and pen.

Diagonal Rib Stitch Pattern (worked flat over a multiple of 5 stiches plus 2):
This is the basic pattern stitch. Work from chart or written instructions as you prefer

Row 1 [RS]: K2tog, yo, *k3, k2tog, yo; rep from * to last 5 sts, k5.
Row 2 [WS]: P2, *k3, p2; rep from * to end.
Row 3: K4, k2tog, yo, *k3, k2tog, yo; rep from * to last st, k1.
Row 4: K1, *p2, k3; rep from * to last st, p1.
Row 5: *K3, k2tog, yo; rep from * to last 2 sts, k2.
Row 6: K2, *p2, k3; rep from * to end.
Row 7: K2, *k2tog, yo, k3; rep from * to end.
Row 8: *K3, p2; rep from * to last 2 sts, k2.
Row 9: K1, k2tog, yo, *k3, k2tog, yo; rep from * to last 4 sts, k4.
Row 10: P1, *k3, p2; rep from * to last st, k1.

CHARTS

DIRECTIONS

Back and Left-Hand side (Increase section)
Using the Cable method, CO 6 stitches.
Establish stitch pattern and increase/cast on schedule as follows (stitch instructions include newly CO stitches), working from these written instructions, or the Starting Section chart.

Row 1 [RS]: K2, yo, k4. 7 sts.
Row 2: CO 2 stitches, k1, p2, k3, p2, k1. 9 sts.
Row 3: K4, k2tog, yo, k3.
Row 4: CO 2, k5, p2, k3, p1. 11 sts.
Row 5: CO 1, k4, k2tog, yo, k3, k2tog, yo, k1. 12 sts.
Row 6: CO 2, k3, (p2, k3) twice, p1. 14 sts.
Row 7: (K3, k2tog, yo) twice, k4.
Row 8: CO 2, k1, p2, (k3, p2) twice, k3. 16 sts.
Row 9: CO 1, k3, *k2tog, yo, k3; rep from * to last 4 sts, k2tog, yo, k2. 17 sts.
Row 10: CO 1, *k3, p2; rep from * to last 3 sts, k3. 18 sts.
Row 11: K2, *k2tog, yo, k3; rep from * to last st, k1.

At this point, the pattern is established.

Increases are worked as follows:
CO 1 st at the beginning of every other RS row, starting with the next RS row (Row 13). That is, you're adding 1 st every 4 rows. On the WS row, it's a 10-row pattern, starting here (Row 12): CO 2 sts at the start of four WS rows, and 1 st at the start of the fifth.

Put another way, it's a 20-row repeat, as below, and you're just about to start Row 12 of the shawl:

Row 1 [RS]: CO 1, work to end of row in pattern as set.
Row 2 [WS]: CO 2, work to end of row in pattern as set.
Row 3 [RS]: Work even in pattern as set.
Row 4 [WS]: CO 2, work to end of row in pattern as set.
Row 5 [RS]: CO 1, work to end of row in pattern as set.
Row 6 [WS]: CO 2, work to end of row in pattern as set.
Row 7 [RS]: Work even in pattern as set.
Row 8 [WS]: CO 2, work to end of row in pattern as set.
Row 9 [RS]: CO 1, work to end of row in pattern as set.
Row 10 [WS]: CO 1, work to end of row in pattern as set.
Row 11 [RS]: Work even in pattern as set.
Row 12 [WS]: CO 2, work to end of row in pattern as set.
Row 13 [RS]: CO 1, work to end of row in pattern as set.
Row 14 [WS]: CO 2, work to end of row in pattern as set.
Row 15 [RS]: Work even in pattern as set.
Row 16 [WS]: CO 2, work to end of row in pattern as set.
Row 17 [RS]: CO 1, work to end of row in pattern as set.
Row 18 [WS]: CO 2, work to end of row in pattern as set.
Row 19 [RS]: Work even in pattern as set.
Row 20 [WS]: CO 1, work to end of row in pattern as set.

Each set of 20 rows adds 23 stitches. As you add stitches, incorporate them into the pattern. See Pattern Notes for tips.

Continue in pattern working COs as set, until you have approximately 70 grams left in ball, ending after any RS row.

Right-hand side (Decrease Section)
Next row [WS]: BO until 100 sts remain – including the 1 st on your right-hand needle; work in pattern as set to the end of the row.

You will now begin decreasing. Read ahead before you begin. If you're using a row counter, reset it.

Decrease rows are worked as follows:
RS decrease rows: K1, k2tog, work to end of row in pattern as set. 1 st decreased.
WS decrease rows: K1, ssk, work to end of row in pattern as set. 1 st decreased.

And they are worked on the following schedule:
Decrease at the beginning of every 6th RS row – every 12 rows – starting on Row 13.
Decrease at the beginning of every 4th WS row – every 8 rows – starting with Row 8.

Work until you have completed 83 rows of this schedule.

From row 84 onwards, decrease every 3rd RS and WS rows – every 6th row – starting with Rows 84 and 85.

Note: that this schedule is pretty forgiving. If you miss a decrease, you can work it the next time you're on that side.

Continue as set until you've used up all of the yarn less enough to bind off. (A good rule is to leave a length of yarn four or five times the width of the row.) It doesn't matter if you end with a RS or WS row.

To bind off, if you're on a RS row, bind off purlwise; if you're on a WS row, bind off knitwise.

FINISHING

Weave in ends.
Wet block.

ABOUT THE DESIGNER

Sara Lucas has had at least one hand in the knitting industry since the late nineties. Now she lives in Oregon and is a legal assistant by day and designer (and baker and gardener and foodie and sports fan) by night.

Her designs are featured by yarn companies, in magazines and, of course, can be found on Ravelry.

Pattern & images © 2018 Sara Lucas.