This stole is inspired by the delight of seeing a spider web dotted with dew in a flowery garden at early morning. The stole has a spider web and diamond centre, a favourite motif of traditional Shetland lace, between paired Victorian bramble leaf patterns. The combination of the two patterns, with a unique scallop edge, conjures the natural beauty of gossamer in a garden.
Gauge
Not Applicable
Sizes and Measurements
One size
For reference: Stole pictured is 24” x 88” after blocking
Materials
- Rowan Scottish Tweed 4 ply (100% wool, 120 yards /110 meters per 25g ball), shade 005 (lavender), 9 balls
- Recommended substitutions: JaggerSpun Zephyr wool-silk 2/18, Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift, Jamieson and Smith 2 ply lace weight or 1 ply cobweb, and Rowan’s Kidsilk Haze/Night.
- A pair of 3.5mm needle or circular
- Stitch markers (if needed)
- Waste yarn
- Stitch holder
- Tapestry needle
Directions
(Popknits uses knittinghelp.com's standard abbreviations)
Preparation Rows
Cast on 89 stitches loosely. I use long-tail cast on with two needles holding together. Knit 2 rows.
The Body
Work the first and the last 4 stitches of every row in garter stitch to form the selvage edge. The chart does not include the garter stitch edge and begins with the 5th stitch of each row. Follow the chart: you will then work the following 22 stitches in brambling rose pattern, and the central 37 stitches in the spider web pattern (repeat the central 12-stitch pattern once), and then again the brambling rose. Place stitch markers or wasted yarns to indicate each section if needed.
Download this chart as a PDF
Chart updated to reflect changes on Sunday, October 26. 20:40PM. Error is highlighted in yellow on chart.
Work until row 179. Place all stitches on waste yarn or a large holder.
The second half
Work as the first half. Join the two parts, using either three needle bind-off or grafting the two pieces.
The fringe
To complete the fringe, please use the tutorial PDF below.
Download this tutorial as a PDF
Work to desired length. Stole pictured has nine scallops on each side. Join the fringe to the casting sides of the stole.
Block to desired dimension.
Alternative construction
For the second half, you can also start with the scallop edge, then pick up 89 stitches from the garter stitch side, work 2 rows of garter stitch, then start the pattern. Similarly, you can also start the stole from the fringe: work to desired length, pick up 89 stitches to continue the major pattern, make the second piece, then join the two parts together.
Other Notes
For a wider stole: work more repeats of the central 12 stitches in the spider web pattern. Cast on 89 plus nx12 for a wider stole. Similarly, you can work the spider web pattern on 25 stitches for a narrower stole or a scarf. Cast on 77 stitches for this version.
I had tried various patterns for fringes but didn’t feel any of them suit the stole, until I came across a vintage scallop pattern, dated back to 1899, on Sarah’s resourceful website (http://www.knitting-and.com/knitting/patterns/lace/1899.htm). I revised the stitch pattern a bit and included the tutorialabove, but you may find Sarah’s tutorial helpful, too.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with chart reading, please do read the very practical guides written by Eunny Jang: Majoring in Lace Part ii and Part iii.
To highlight:
- The lace chart in this pattern is reading from the right side.
- The blank square represents k on the right side (odd number rows) and p on the wrong side (even number rows). This will form the stockinette ground for the central pattern.
- However, in the central spiderweb pattern, it does not matter what directions your stitches are slanting. K2tog is used in every row.
About the Author
Lia learned how to knit when she was 13 but knitting only became a serious hobby of hers after October 2006. She started to knit for her Blythe dolls at first, wanting to create a beautiful wardrobe for them. She quickly built up a stash and had to start knitting for herself so as to use up yarns she had bought. She now knits when she is traveling, whether on buses, trains, or flights. She has an MFA in Theatre Directing and a PhD in Theatre Studies. She sometimes knits while seeing a performance. Lia lives in London, is ambling on Ravelry, and has a blog at http://ambling.wordpress.com/.
Credits
Photos by Lia W Liang and T. J. Wang
Model: Lia W Liang
From Flickr
Do you have a photo of this item you'd like to share? Tag your photo on Flickr with popknits-gossamergarden. (only the 6 most recent photos will appear here at any time.)
Errata
Errata in this pattern are denoted in red.
License
Gossamer Garden Stole by
Lia W. Liang is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at
http://www.popknits.com/index.php/patterns/page/gossamer_garden_stole/.
