This is the Isla Shawl, a 4ply shawl knitting pattern from Biches & Bûches.
It's a super trendy shawlette sized accessory perfect if you want extra warmth round your neck, tied like a kerchief, or tie it at the back for a pointy cowl.
It uses 3 colours of yarn and slip stitches to create a dog tooth pattern.
I used our new Schoppel Wolle Senior yarn. It's 100% wool dyed on a grey yarn base.
You can buy the pattern on Ravelry or in the Pittenweem shop as a digital download.
And we have all 22 colours of Senior in stock online and in the shop.
The shawl is knitted from the top down. You start by casting on a few stitches.
You increase at the edges and down the centre spine to create a triangle.
The increasing is done with M1L and M1R, where you pick up the strand of yarn between the stitches on your needles and knit or purl into it.
As the colourwork effect is achieved with slip stitches you are only working with one colour per row so there is no stranding, it's a great technique for beginners and for those looking for a more straightforward project.
When you slip stitches you don't work the stitch. You just move it from one needle to the other. This means that you break up the line of stitches as you're effectively bringing the stitch from the row below onto your current row. When using different colours of yarn or a variegated yarn you can easily get different colours on each row.
Slip stitches are a great way to play with colour and can be worked in different ways - slip holding the yarn at the back of your work or slip holding the yarn at the front of your work.
For Isla, the designer has used the elongated V shape of a slip stitch to create a dogs tooth pattern.
Whereas we've held the yarn at the front whilst slipping to create a woven fabric effect on our Half Linen Stitch Cowl.
And Isabell Kraemer has combined both ways on her Malibu shawl.
Malibu designed by Isabell Kraemer. Pattern is available to buy on Ravelry.
Another great feature of the Isla Shawl is the stocking stitch top edge.
It looks like a i-cord edge like we've used on our blankets (knit to the last 3 stitches, bring yarn forward between the needles, slip the last three stitches purlwise, repeat at the end of every row).
But instead, this shawl has you work stocking stitch - knit the first and last 3 stitches on the right side and purl the first and last 3 stitches on the wrong side.
Stocking stitch naturally curls so this gives the effect of a rounded i-cord edge but it looks and feels more delicate. Perfect for this lightweight dinky shawl.
I really enjoyed knitting our Isla Shawl for lots of different reasons:
- It's a small project, so nothing too daunting. I know from experience I can knit something this size within two weeks so it won't be hanging about on my coffee table. This was doubly important as I wanted Isla as a shop sample!
- I love working in slip stitches. I like the rhythm and speed of simply moving a stitch from one needle to another.
- It was a simple enough pattern not to require much thought but it was engaging enough to keep me interested even when the rows got longer.
- I always find stripes very motivating and encouraging, whether they are printed on the yarn or worked with individual colours.
- The yarn is lovely to work with. Senior is very light and surprisingly soft. This is my first project using it and it is so airy. The shawlette weighs less than 30g.
- There's no complicated blocking. No pins or wires.
When Isla first came off the needles it was smaller than the designer's blocked measurements of 72cm wide and 28cm deep. (I did not swatch.)
Unblocked 63.5cm wide and 24cm deep
Blocking in the broadest sense is a way of finishing your project to make it look it's best.
It usually means washing and drying flat - gently pulling, smoothing and straightening your piece to a specified measurement or to achieve a fabric and size you want.
You may need to use pins to keep an edge straight or to stretch your work, like opening up the holes in a lace stitch pattern or making it bigger.
For Isla I simply washed by shawl in Eucalan, letting it soak. I then drained the water and squished as much out of the shawl as possible before squishing it some more in a dry towel.
Just washed
When I laid it out flat again I found that it had grown to 81.5cm by 25.5cm. I knew then I didn't have to get my blocking pins or wires out to stretch it bigger. With a bit of care I could just let it dry flat.
To get some more depth to my Isla (like the designer has) I just used my hands to smoosh the peak of the shawl longer and reduce the wingspan. Although I could have left it and had a wider shawlette.
Or if I wanted a deeper peak and to keep the wider wingspan I could have got my blocking wires out to stretch and pin the shawlette into shape.
drying 75cm wide and 30cm deep
For our Isla Shawl I used shades:
2609 Ink Pond - a dark navy blue. This colour has lot of shade variation. In some parts it looks like I've used more that one blue shade
9220m Light Grey Blend . This is a the base shade that all the Senior shades are dyed on so you can't go wrong using it as a contrast colour.
2613 Golden Olive. A gorgeous zesty green.
You can see all the Schoppel Wolle Senior shades on the website on in the Pittenweem shop.
Let us know if you want us to put together some specific colour combos for you.
To recap
You can buy a copy of the Isla Shawl on Ravelry.
You can buy Schoppel Wolle Senior here. I used less than 1 ball each of 2609 Ink Pond, 9220m Light Grey Blend and 2613 Golden Olive.
You can of course use another 4ply yarn.
You can buy circular needles here. The pattern specifies 3.5mm. You'll need a circular needle, at least 60cm, to hold all the stitches. You end up with 233.
One warning I will give is do not panic when you see the pattern. It's been explained in multiple ways and runs to 17 pages!
Read through the pattern and take the info YOU need.
I ignored the gauge swatch instructions (great to see designers adding this) and read the techniques used sections (I followed the instructions given for an elastic cast off) and then used pages 9 - 12 for the written instructions and skipped ahead to page 14 for the finishing instructions.
