Vipava Shawlette

You can also download the Vipava Shawlette pattern as a PDF.

This year, we spent a week in the beautiful Vipava valley in Slovenia. I worked on this shawl while we were there, and the arrowhead lace pattern is a bit like the mountains that surrounded us in the valley. The pattern is a very simple knit, perfect for working on during a long car drive. 

The shawlette is composed of a central band of arrowhead lace, flanked by stocking stitch. It is shaped by increasing one stitch at each end on each row.

Yarn: Fonty Camel Gobi 3 (50g=200m). 2 skeins 

The yarn’s gauge is 30 stiches and 39 rows per 10cm. Gauge isn’t crucial but a different gauge might affect the length of the shawl.

I knitted using a solid colour but the simplicity of the stitch patterns used means it could also come up well in a more variegated yarn.

Needle: 3.5mm. I use circular needles for a shawl like this, though it is knit in rows.

Abbreviations:

K2tog: knit the next two stitches together

M1bl: make one stitch using a backwards loop

Pm: place marker

Sl2-K1-p2sso: slip 2 (knitwise), knit1, pass the two slipped stitches over the knitted stitch.

Sm: slip marker

Ssk: slip one stitch knitwise, slip the next stitch knitwise, move both back to the left needle, knit together through back loops 

Yo: yarn over

Notes:

I use the long-tail method for casting on (see explanation here) and the M1bl – make one with a backwards loop – for the increases at each end (see  explanation here).

Arrowhead lace pattern:

Row 1 (WS) Purl. 

Row 2 K1, [yo, ssk] twice, k1, [k2tog, yo] twice, k1.

Row 3 Purl. 

Row 4 K2, yo, ssk, yo, sl2 knitwise-K1-p2sso, yo, k2tog, yo, K2.

Note that, unusually, even-numbered rows are right-side (RS) rows in this pattern.

Pattern

Cast on 13 stitches. 

Row 1: P1, pm, m1bl, p until 1 stitch remains, m1bl, pm, p1

Row 2: K1, sm, m1bl, k1, pm, k1, [yo, ssk] twice, k1, [k2tog, yo] twice, k1, pm, k1 m1bl, sm, k1

Row 3: P1, sm, m1bl, p to next marker, sm, p to next marker, sm, p to next marker, m1bl, sm, p1

Row 4: K1, sm, m1bl, k to next marker, sm, k2, yo, ssk, yo, sl2 knitwise-K1-p2sso, yo, k2tog, yo, K2, sm, k to next marker, m1bl, sm, k1

Row 5: P1, sm, m1bl, p to next marker, sm, p to next marker, sm, p to next marker, m1bl, sm, p1

Row 6: K1, sm, m1bl, k to next marker, k1, [yo, ssk] twice, k1, [k2tog, yo] twice, k1, sm, k to next marker, m1bl, sm, k1

Repeat rows 3-6 until shawlette measures about 50cms.

Final rows:

Third to last row: P1, sm, m1bl, p to next marker, sm, p to next marker, sm, p to next marker, m1bl, sm, p1

Second to last row: K1, sm, m1bl, k to next marker, sm, k2, yo, ssk, yo, sl2 knitwise-K1-p2sso, yo, k2tog, yo, K2, sm, k to next marker, m1bl, sm, k1

Last row: P1, sm, m1bl, p to next marker, sm, p to next marker, sm, p to next marker, m1bl, sm, p1

Cast off (simple cast-off is fine here).

Finishing:

Wash the shawlette and lay it out to dry, taking care to uncurl the edges to the extent possible. Weave in ends.

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