Fenberry Shawl
December is the time for Christmas parties and all manner of festivities. And I've got just the right accessory for these occasions: Fenberry Shawl.
Fenberry Shawl is a festive fingering-weight crescent shawl featuring short rows, lace, and beads. This shawl is elegantly simple but the beads add just enough bling to lift it from everyday to festive — the perfect accessory to wear at any holiday party.
The shawl is made with alternating sections of stockinette short-row wedges and an easy diamond lace pattern. If you've knit my Lime Chamraj shawl pattern, you should be quite familiar with the construction. The lace pattern is a really easy eight-row repeat, offset so that you only have to memorize two rows. And every other row is a purl-back row so no lace work on the wrong side! Both written and charted instructions are given for the lace pattern.
To help you stay on track, the pattern includes a helpful stitch count cheat sheet that contains row numbers, how many stitches are increased on that row, and how many stitches you should end up with at the end of the row. There's even a place where you can check off your progress once you've completed the row!
If you've never worked with beads before, don't fret: the pattern also includes a step-by-step photo tutorial for placing beads with a crochet hook. I've found the crochet hook method to be the fastest and easiest but you do need a really tiny crochet hook and consistently sized beads. I recommend going for high-quality Japanese beads, such as TOHO or MIYUKI.
To knit the shawl you need 2 skeins of fingering-weight yarn and 338 seed beads. Merino singles have a divine drape but you can use sock yarn as well. For the beads I recommend choosing a color that doesn't get lost in the yarn — otherwise what's the point of doing all the hard work if no one can see it!
I used gorgeous cranberry colored merino singles with size 8/0 silver beads. And that's also what inspired the name for the pattern: it comes from the old English word for cranberry, fenberry.
The pattern for Fenberry Shawl is now available on Ravelry. I'd love to see your version of the shawl! Share your project on Instagram with the hashtags #talviknits and #fenberryshawl.
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