Knitting Modular Shawls, Wraps, and Stoles

To Nancy Baisch, CEO, with love

Acknowledgments

I'm grateful to the following individuals for knitting the samples in this book:

Nancy Baisch, Adrienne Carmack, Danelle Howard, Kim Jensen, Cheryl Keeley, Joan Murphy, Candace Musmeci, Brooke Nico, Patty Olson, Sue Paules, Margarete Shaw, and Norma Jean Sternschein.

I am grateful to Cascade Yarns for providing every bit of the yarn used in the many shawl building samples. Hurrah for beautiful Cascade 220, an ever-present workhorse yarn in my design studio!

Once again, I've been lucky to surround myself with the best team in the business. Thank you, Brooke Nico, Carol Sulcoski, and Patty Lyons for sharing your generous technical expertise (not to mention your unconditional love and laughter).

The mission of Storey Publishing is to serve our customers by publishing practical information that encourages personal independence in harmony with the environment.

Edited by Gwen Steege and Michal Lumsden

Art direction and book design by Jessica Armstrong

Text production by Liseann Karandisecky

Indexed by Nancy D. Wood

Cover and interior photography by © Melinda DiMauro, except knitting swatches by Mars Vilaubi and author photo by Marcus Tullis

Charts created by Melissa Leapman

Illustrations by Alison Kolesar

© 2018 by Melissa Leapman

Ebook production by Kristy L. MacWilliams

Ebook version 1.0

December 25, 2018

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages or reproduce illustrations in a review with appropriate credits; nor may any part of this book be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means — electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or other — without written permission from the publisher.

The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. All recommendations are made without guarantee on the part of the author or Storey Publishing. The author and publisher disclaim any liability in connection with the use of this information.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Leapman, Melissa, author.

Title: Knitting modular shawls, wraps, and stoles : an easy, innovative

technique for creating custom designs, with 185 stitch patterns / by

Melissa Leapman.

Description: North Adams, MA : Storey Publishing, [2018] | Includes index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018030471 (print) | LCCN 2018033491 (ebook) | ISBN 9781612129976 (ebook) | ISBN 9781612129969 (hardcover : alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: Shawls. | Knitting—Technique.

Classification: LCC TS1781 (ebook) | LCC TS1781 .L34 2018 (print) | DDC 677/.028245—dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018030471

Contents

Part 1
Shape Your Shawl

Modular Shawl Construction in 7 Easy Steps

Gather Your Tools

Putting It All Together

Part 2
The Patterns

Side Edgings

Simple Fabrics

Mix 'n' Match Wedges

Wedges with 2-Stitch Multiples

Wedges with 4-Stitch Multiples

Wedges with 6-Stitch Multiples

Wedges with 8-Stitch Multiples

Wedges with 10-Stitch Multiples

Wedges with 12-Stitch Multiples

Wedges with 14-Stitch Multiples

Wedges with 16-Stitch Multiples

Horizontal Insertions

Horizontal Insertions with 2-Stitch Multiples

Horizontal Insertions with 4-Stitch Multiples

Horizontal Insertions with 6-Stitch Multiples

Horizontal Insertions with 8-Stitch Multiples

Horizontal Insertions with 12-Stitch Multiples

Horizontal Insertions with 14-Stitch Multiples

Vertical Insertions

Lower Borders

Borders with 4-Stitch Multiples

Borders with 6-Stitch Multiples

Borders with 8-Stitch Multiples

Borders with 10-Stitch Multiples

Borders with 12-Stitch Multiples

Borders with 14-Stitch Multiples

Borders with 16-Stitch Multiples

Perpendicular Borders

The Gallery of Shawls in 7 Easy Steps

Resources

Glossary of Knitting Techniques

Finishing Your Shawl

How to Read Knitting Charts

List of Symbols and Abbreviations

Metric Conversion Chart

Stitch Multiple Cross-Reference Chart

Index

Other Storey Books You Will Enjoy

Share Your Experience!

Part 1

Shape Your Shawl!

Your Shawl!

Imagine hundreds — perhaps even thousands — of lovely shawl designs at your fingertips.

Shawls and stoles are the most versatile and eye-catching accessories you can knit. From a light and lacy splash of color to accent an outfit to a full worsted-weight cover-up to provide warmth and insulation from the elements, shawls are your go-to companions. Whether you are knitting for yourself or making a gift for a special (and lucky!) friend, a shawl will become a cherished addition to any wardrobe.

Each pattern in this book is based on a wedge shape, which starts at the top with just a few stitches to form a tab. Easy, decorative yarn-over increases worked at the sides of every wedge on right-side rows create a triangular shape. (Bonus: In most patterns, wrong-side rows are easy "rest rows." Just mindlessly knit or purl across!) This simple rate of increase makes it easy to fill the center of the shawl with beautiful stitch patterns and opens up opportunities to combine the wedges into many different and useful shawl silhouettes.

At first glance, the patterns in this collection will look different from the ones you're accustomed to seeing. In addition to offering concrete instructions for specific designs, I'm presenting recipes for creating custom, one-of-a-kind shawls. (The Gallery of Shawls in 7 Easy Steps has 20 complete recipes for the finished shawls featured throughout this book. These recipes will help get you started creating your own unique shawl designs.) You can think of each stitch pattern as a building block to craft your own masterpiece. Once you understand the basic concept, you'll find it easy (and fun) to use. Just plug and play. The possibilities are nearly endless!

Modular Shawl Construction in 7 Easy Steps

Want a plain shawl with a knockout border? You can knit it. Prefer an allover lace pattern with a beaded border? No problem! You can choose a single pattern for the entire shawl or build a masterpiece by combining several patterns. Here's how to get started.

Most shawls in this book begin with a tab of just a few stitches (see step 5). It's an easy way to get a number of stitches on the needle, ready to work the first row, and it provides a smooth, seamless start. The type of edgings you use along the outer sides of the wedges will determine which tab you start with. Learn how easy a tab cast in step 5. (If you decide to work from the center out to create a square design, you will use a Magic Loop cast on instead of a tab.)

Strategically placed increases create the shape of each wedge. It's simple: Add one yarn-over increase on each side of the triangular wedge every other row.

When multiple wedges are combined in a design, single "spine" stitches or wider vertical insertions separate the different elements, and yarn-over increases are worked on the sides of each wedge. A spine stitch is a single stitch worked in smooth stockinette to set apart the patterned sections of a shawl; a vertical insertion is a decorative panel that serves to separate the wedges.

7 Steps to Shawl Success

1. 1. Choose a Silhouette.
2. 2. Choose a Stitch pattern.
3. 3. Choose a Background texture.
4. 4. Choose an Edging.
5. 5. Choose a Cast on Tab.
6. 6. Choose a Border.
7. 7. Choose a Bind off.

Step One: Choose a Silhouette

2 Wedges

The simplest construction design is to combine two mirror-image wedges to create a triangle.

All at Once

Many knitters prefer to many wedges there are in the design. This keeps youTo join two or more wedges using a spine stitch, add 1 stockinette stitch (knit on right-side rows and purl on wrong-side rows) between each wedge in the shawl.

3 Wedges

Three wedges combined in one piece will form a three-quarter square shawl, which will sit nicely on the shoulders.

The same three wedges sewn together will create a fluid, flowing, trapezoidal shawl.

Seaming the Wedges Together

If you choose to work each wedge separately, use one of the following techniques to seam the wedges together:

• For stockinette side edges, use horizontal mattress stitch (see glossary).
• For garter and fagoted side edges, use invisible weaving (see glossary).

  Shawl #12

  Three wedges sewn together as a trapezoid make a long and lovely wrap. See Shawl #12 for instructions.

4 Wedges

Four wedges connected by a spine stitch (see above) create a full-coverage shawl that will drape over the shoulders.

When worked in the round, four wedges will, of course, create a perfect square silhouette.

Another option for four wedges: Sew them together to make a graceful parallelogram. (See the photos.)

6 Wedges

Six wedges, when aggressively blocked (see Finishing Your Shawl), form a gorgeous cape-like silhouette that overlaps in the front.

For added fun and complexity, add vertical insertions, which create more design interest. You can place them in the center of a two-wedge shawl (instead of the usual spine stitch) or immediately next to the side edges for a design element down the front of a shawl. Two wedges and one vertical insertion make a trapezoidal shawl.

Vertical Insertions

Two wedges with three vertical insertions form a triangular polygon. See Shawl #2.

Three wedges and four vertical insertions combine to create a three-quarter square shawl.

Step TWO: Choose a Stitch Pattern

Here's the really fun part. Select the pattern (or two or more) that you want to use to fill your wedges (see Mix 'n' Match Wedges). Be creative. Use your imagination. Use the gallery of shawl designs to get started. These suggestions are just a tiny glimpse at the limitless universe of shawls that you can create. You are the designer!

Now, there is a tiny bit of math ahead — don't be afraid! In order to provide you with the most versatile set of options for designing your custom shawl, I have included stitch patterns with varying numbers of stitches. The number of stitches in each repeat (the stitch multiple) ranges from 2 to 16. Each wedge pattern includes 1 additional stitch in each row to center the pattern.

Accounting for Multiples

Before adding an additional pattern to your shawl, count the stitches in each wedge. Be sure you have a multiple of the stitch repeat plus 1 extra stitch in each wedge, not including spine or edging stitches. The 1 extra stitch balances the pattern so it appears centered on the wedge. Each row of each wedge has an odd number of stitches, starting with 1, and since the stitch repeats are all even numbers, there will always be one extra stitch on one side.

Combining Stitch Multiples

Combining Stitch Multiples

Mixing and Matching Patterns

One option is to fill your wedge with more than one stitch pattern, perhaps a main wedge pattern from Mix 'n' Match Wedges, plus a lower border from Lower Borders.

Patterns with the same stitch multiple can be combined easily. Within the pattern charts, bold boxes show stitch and row repeats. Work to the end of the row repeat, then begin the new pattern, starting with the first of its repeat rows. For example, to add pattern 78 in the middle of a wedge, begin with Row 11 rather than Row 1.

Patterns with different stitch multiples can be worked in sequence, as long as the final row of one design is divisible by the stitch multiple of the other. In other words, a 16-stitch multiple will meld perfectly with an 8- or a 4-stitch multiple. For example, if pattern A is a 16-stitch multiple, pattern B can be a 4-, an 8-, or a 16-stitch multiple.

If pattern A is a 4-stitch multiple, however, you will have to count your stitches to determine when you can switch to an 8- or a 16-stitch pattern. Let's say you end pattern A with 40 stitches on your needle. Because 8 goes into 40 evenly, you could then switch to a pattern with an 8-stitch multiple. But 16 does not go into 40 evenly, so you cannot switch to a 16-stitch multiple pattern.

In order to combine two stitch patterns with different multiples within a single wedge, the stitch multiples must be compatible. (In mathematical terms, they must be factors of each other.) So you don't have to stress about the math, refer to the tables above and in the gallery of shawl designs to see which stitch multiples will work with each other. (Note: It is possible to work out ways to combine "incompatible" stitch multiples, but that actually does require you to do some math. Grin.)

Add a horizontal insertion (or two) to separate the two primary stitch patterns and add even more interest to your shawl. (For an example, see Shawl #3 [also shown here].) Make sure the stitch multiples are compatible. Two-stitch repeats can be used in any shawl.

Step Three: Choose a Background Texture

Most of the shawls in this book can be knitted in smooth stockinette stitch or in textured garter stitch, depending on how the wrong-side rows are treated. Most charts show the stockinette option, with purl stitches on wrong-side rows, but these can be transformed into garter stitch by knitting stitches on the wrong side. Patterns where this approach is possible show both the "stockinette" and "garter" icons.

Each stitch pattern will look completely different based on whether you knit the wrong-side rows (garter stitch) or purl them (stockinette). This doubles the number of options you have for filling your wedges. Experiment with the different textures to see how the look of the stitch pattern changes. Be sure to check out other possible textures for simple wedges (see Simple Fabrics).

Step Four: Choose an Edging

For most shawl silhouettes, you can use any of these edgings: textured garter stitch (a), unobtrusive stockinette (b), or delicate fagoting for a lacy look (c). All are interchangeable — knitter's choice! The edging you choose will determine which tab cast on you use. See Step 5 and Step 6 for instructions. These decorative stitches will be used only on the outside edges of your shawl's outermost wedges

Note: If your shawl is knitted in the round, you will skip step 4.

Step Five: Choose a Cast-On Tab

All of the shawl silhouettes except those knit in the round begin with a tab. There are three different tabs (garter, stockinette, and fagoted), and the one you use depends on the side edging you chose in step 4. Each tab starts with a provisional cast on (at right). The number of stitches in the initial cast on determines the width of the side edgings. (In this book, I have used 3-stitch side edgings, but you can be creative and use a wider edging if you choose.)

The following instructions are for a standard two-wedge triangular shawl with no vertical insertions. After beginning with the provisional cast on, continue using one of these tabs.

Provisional Cast On

NOTE: Use a dark-colored yarn contrasting with your main shawl yarn to make it easier to pick up stitches later.

With an appropriately sized crochet hook, chain 7 with waste yarn (a and b).