For this half-circle shawl I chose a color range that made me think of spring, and I created a design to go with the yarn that’s simple but casually elegant.

You’ll find rows of quatrefoil eyelets at regularly-spaced intervals, and at the bottom of the shawl, a knit-on edging with a single eyelet in each row.

I love knitting with this luxurious fine merino yarn, Araucania Botany Lace, because it’s a bit heavier than lace and a bit lighter than fingering, and produces such great stitch definition.

It also produces a finished accessory that’s lightweight yet maintains its shape.

It’s knit from the top down on 3.25mm US 3) needles, and the interior increases are done with M1L and M1R to keep them nearly invisible. I used almost all of the 100g skein.

There are rows of quatrefoil eyelets at regularly-spaced intervals. At the bottom of the shawl, you’ll add a knit-on edging that’s a simple garter edging with a single eyelet worked in each right-side row.

The dimensions after blocking are: 43 x 19 inches (109 x 48.5 cm)

You can purchase the pattern on Ravelry.  This accessory and others are available in my Etsy store as well.

I’ll be traveling in Italy and Croatia during the first half of April, so I probably won’t be posting patterns or knitting tips for the next two weeks.

I will probably post some photos of monuments, architectural details, and natural wonders that will hopefully inspire future patterns!

Happy knitting!
MikeH

This bandana is a fun knit, watching the color bands appear with the yarn I chose for the project. It’s a variation on my Buds and Flowers Shawlette pattern.

I knit this accessory using 1 50-gram ball of La Doro 2-ply, lace weight, 100% superwash wool yarn (300 meters/328 yards) – hand-dyed (colorway 6). You could easily dip into your stash and pick a few colors you’d like to combine.

The bandana measures 40 inches (101.5 cm) across the top; 15 inches (38 cm) from top midline to tip of bottom point.

I knit the top-down bandana with 2.75mm needles, knitting from the outside of the ball: the colors develop as you knit. I did make sure that the new color began at the beginning of a row (with the right side facing me) and this meant cutting the yarn a few times.

Adjusting the pattern to make this bandana is quite straightforward. Continue according to the pattern through Row 107, and knit Row 108 as a normal wrong-side row.

Then,
Row 109: (K1, YO) twice; K158, YO, K1, YO, K158, (YO, K1) twice (327 stitches)
Rows 111-119 following the formula for Row 109, substituting the number of K stitches shown for each of the rows:
Row 111: K161 (333 stitches)
Row 113: K164 (339)
Row 115: K167 (345)
Row 117: K170 (351)
Row 119: K173 (357)
Row 120 same as 108
The rose color then appears as if by magic, and it’s time to BO using a picot bind off technique.

So, now if you have this pattern, there are 3 accessories you can knit  with it!

The colorful bandana is also available for purchase in my Etsy shop.

Happy knitting!
MikeH

This scarf is knit with alternating horizontal lace and tweed stitch panels. If you have a moderate amount of experience with lace knitting you’ll likely find this an enjoyable knit.

There’s enough variation to keep you from getting bored, yet the repeats of the pattern keep you from having to concentrate too intensely!

I love working with Araucania Botany Lace (Colorway: 3006, rainbow), and used most of a 100g skein for this scarf that measures 57 x 7 inches (145 x 20.25 cm) after blocking.

Most any type of yarn would be fine as long as the stitches are well defined. I’m trying a solid color sport-weight alpaca yarn now as you can see in this work-in-progress below (before blocking, which is important to open up the lace design):

You can download the free pattern from my Ravelry page or Craftsy pattern shop.

If you’d like to modify the width or length of the scarf and need help, let me know.

Happy knitting!
MikeH

This top-down triangular knit lace shawl incorporates a few of the ideas that I’ve written about over the last few weeks.

You’ll find a combination of visible and invisible center spine increases and a pattern based on a particular yarn – in this case the colors in particular.

The colors in this yarn took me back a few decades to Janis Joplin and her Kozmic Blues. No serene night sky here, but this accessory will keep you warm on a cool starry night!

I hand knit this accessory from my original design, using Araucania Botany Lace 100% extra-fine merino yarn (color: 1795, blues), using nearly all of a 100g skein.

The top-down triangular shawl measures 49 x 20 inches (124.5 x 51 cm). This yarn is such a delight to work with, and I’m so glad I bought a few other colorways for upcoming projects.

While the yarn for Cosmic Blues is called a lace yarn, it is a bit more substantial than traditional lace and creates both a fabric with body and stitches that are clearly defined.

Note that the bottom section of the shawl is knit in rows of garter, with a more invisible type of increase along the center spine.

If you have a moderate amount of lace knitting experience you should find this an interesting knitting project.

Let me know if you have any questions, comments or suggestions.

The shawl is available for purchase on Etsy; and the pattern (written instructions) is available on Ravelry.

Happy Knitting!
MikeH