Shawlands

Finally I get to reveal a design that's been kept under wraps for many long months. Even my test knitters didn't know the yarn with which I knitted the original sample.

This summer I had the pleasure of working with The Fibre Co.'s latest yarn line launched just this fall, the Arranmore Light.

In the spring, The Fibre Co. was looking for indie designers to develop patterns for and showcase their then-upcoming yarn. The yarn was described thusly:

a gorgeous new DK weight yarn that knits up at 22-24 sts per 10 cm on 3.75-4 mm needles

That's it! No mention of fibers, drape, feel, texture... I jumped at the chance immediately even though I didn't have a firm idea what I was going to be working with... although I had a hunch.

When the yarn came in the mail, it was just divine. Soft, sproingy, tweedy, woolly... Just a pleasure to work with. Arranmore Light, the DK-weight version of TFC's fabulous aran-weight tweed yarn Arranmore, consists of merino, cashmere, and silk. And it was just perfect for the cozy, generously sized shawl I had in mind.

The design was inspired by my love of black tea, and is named after a tea variety from the Shawlands Estate in Ceylon. It is hearty, robust, comforting, and warming — like snuggling inside on a chilly autumn’s day with a cup of tea and a good book. I have plans to design a whole series of shawl inspired by tea and have already got some ideas for the next ones...

Shawlands is a shallow triangle-shaped shawl, designed for two colors of DK-weight yarn. I used Ciaran (dark brown) as the main color and St. Claire (natural white) for the contrasting color. Arranmore Light comes in 18 lovely colors so there are plenty of color combinations to choose from. I'm partial to yellows these days so Finian looks absolutely gorgeous. And I'd love a cardigan in Shamrock... Anyhoo!

The shawl is worked top-down from the neck edge. Increases are placed at different rates at each edge and on each side of the garter-stitch center spine to create a shallow triangle. The shawl features stockinette, two types of lace patterns, garter stitch & eyelet stripes, and a picot bind-off.

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