Level * * * * *
Ultra Skilled Knit
The Wedding Ring Shawl
This delicately patterned shawl uses
antique Shetland lace motifs for the
centre and borders, and has an edging I
designed to complement these traditional
patterns.
This specialist project is
obviously one intended for the most
highly skilled knitter and will take some
time to knit.
In order to enjoy its making, I plead with
you not to make it for a particular date
but to have it as a companion piece of
knitting (alternate with easier projects) to
really get the best from the challenge: I
made this shawl in three stages over a
year. The worst part will be the ‘set up
pattern rows’ – which are the first rows
of the centre and border, when you have
to be prepared to redo these rows. The
best, will be seeing your beautiful
dressed shawl! Please read all directions
through before starting so that you are
clear about what to do, especially pages
16 - 17 which discuss general tension
and resizing points; it may be helpful to
read the extracts ‘Lace Shawls’ and
‘Knitting with Gossamer Yarns’ too, for
extra help/information.
Dressed Size: c 60 - 72 inches / 150 180cm square depending on yarn choice
etc. SWATCH !!!
Dressed Tension - over centre pattern:
c 30 sts x 42 rows = 4 inches / 10cm
square - within reason, just aim at a
dressed effect you like for this. It’s very
difficult to get any lace in a flimsy thread
to block steadily, so it may help to know
there were 8 sts x 14 rows (or 7 sts to 16
rows) per 1 inch / 2.5cm on a dressed
garter stitch sample, see Preview page 3.
Materials ~ please refer to your Sample Card for actual yarn sample, thank your lucky stars that there’s better now!
I used approx 3.5 oz / 95g (c 3, 500 yards) of a suitable Gossamer Yarn*.
e.g. 120 wpi, ‘17,000 yards per pound’ yarn – ideally a pure wool or an equally fine natural yarn, swatch carefully! I used
an anonymous coned 50% merino 50% viscose yarn 1/34NM (all I could find available at the time), rewound into smaller balls which I
left some weeks to settle the ‘overtwist’ the yarn had due to its necessarily very tight spinning. Even so, I still had to periodically stop
knitting and counteract that particular single ply yarn’s fierce tendency to over-kink or twist up on itself, by dangling the knitting by the
yarn ball so allowing it to revolve out some of the ‘overtwist’.
UK 13 / 2.25mm / US 0 or 1 Circular** Needle : 60cm /24 inches long – or a needle that produces the same tension (US :
"Gauge") as stated above, with your selected yarn. Tip: You may need longer length circular needles for the start of the borders.
Point Protector (Stitch Stopper) VITAL! - use to stop the fine stitches slipping off needle when the knitting is left.
28 removable Stitch Markers and lengths of contrast coloured yarns to cast on, mark stitches and divisions in knitting.
*My unhesitating yarn of choice for this now is our new Gossamer Cashmere 2 Ply @ 25g – 1125m / 1230 yds (about 1,392 yds
per oz = 22,283 yds per pound). At the time of writing, this is the one of the finest wool yarns available. Only 3 balls would be needed
for the above smaller shawl made with 1.5mm needle, but you will need to swatch first to ensure it comes up to a size you would like;
otherwise, buy 4 balls and see notes (Preview page 4) on adding additional pattern repeats.
**OR straight needles for 'flat knitting' each border.
© Heirloom Knitting 2010
Wedding Ring Shawl Preview page 1
Lacehole
Diamond
Motifs
see
Chart 2
Page 8
The Border: Main picture shows how it appears as knitted, inset shows motifs as
worn. With revisions to the side shaping, you could knit this pattern ‘Borders
Inwards’ if preferred : then the Tree motifs that start the border would appear
pointing downwards when worn. Left arrow points to the Break Pattern Row, at the
centre’s cast on edge, see page 5. I noticed that there are odd 'overtwists' visible in
this border – one circled in top motif - I have spotted these in early fine knitting too,
which must (I deduce) show how tightly the original fine yarns were spun.
© Heirloom Knitting 2010
Wedding Ring Shawl Preview page 2
More Size, Tension, Needle & Yarn
Information
My shawl is 58 inches (145cm)* square - it would
have dressed larger if it wasn't such very over-spun
tight yarn - I've put my finger in a picture for scale!
The tallest bird group left, is 6 inches/ 15cm tall.
The dressed tension measures :
28 sts x 64 rows = 4 sq ins/ 10cm approximately
over a dressed garter stitch area of pattern, so the
effect is very airy :
This equates to a needle ranging :
1.5mm – 2.25mm / UK 16 – 13 / US 000 – 1
Unless very experienced you must do small dressed
swatches to see which needle/yarn effect you prefer,
there are mini skeins of yarn included for this.
Dressed Measurements of my Wool/Viscose shawl
Sampled yarns will be proportionately larger as they
are not as over spun, so use my figures as minimums:
4 edging points are
3 inches /7.5cm wide x 6.6inches /c17cm deep.
Each border repeat is
6 inches / 15cm wide x 10 inches / 25cm deep.
The centre is 32 inches / 95cm square.
*Resizing and Quantity : advice on next page centre.
© Heirloom Knitting 2010
Wedding Ring Shawl Preview page 3
The Maths!
Each mitred border as given has averaged rows of (8 x 40 sts =) 320 sts which, multiplied by 140 rows ('140' includes
picked up border rows and Break Pattern rows + (27 x 8 extra border sts for Lacehole motifs) = 44,800 sts per border.
There are 35 Edging Points/Border which, x c 500 sts per point = 17,500 sts per border. So (44,800 border sts +
17,500 edging sts = 62,300 sts) x 4 = 249,200 sts for 4 x Edged Borders. (*)
+ Original Centre :
362 rows x 247 sts = 89,414 sts + 6 x (39 x 7 = ) 273 = 1,638 extra sts = 91,052 sts
This Shawl of 4 Edged Borders (*) and original centre has a Grand Total of = 340,252 sts.
+ Alternative Shawl Centre :
384 rows x 247 sts = 94,848 sts + 6 x (39 x 7 = ) 273 = 1,638 extra sts = 96,486 sts
This centre total added with above (*) for 4 Edged Borders
= 345,686 sts.
OR
Yarn Guidance + How to Make Borders '1 repeat' larger ~ Always wisest to allow for about 10% extra!
After dressing your swatches to find the ultimate size, needle and yarn combination you like, you can now approximate
your yarn quantity. Knit a plain row of exactly 100 stitches normally with chosen yarn and needle. Undo the yarn from
this row and carefully measure the length used – do not pull it too tightly when measuring, then multiply this figure by
the total number of stitches given above in 'The Maths!' for your shawl choice.
Examples:
I used '96cm to knit 100 sts' with CashSilk and 2mm / UK 14 / US 00 needle.
So this means I used 0.96cm for 1 stitch. So, for the larger Alternative Centre Shawl I'd need 345,686 sts x 0.96cm =
331,859 cm/100 = c.3,319m. This means I need 5 x 725m / 25g Cashsilk which, at 725m per 25g has a total length of
3,625m and so is just enough.
With the Gossamer Cashmere and a 1.5mm/ UK 16 / US 000 needle, I have a rate of '75cm per 100 sts'.
So 345,686 sts x .75cm = 259,265 = c2,593m. Therefore 3 x 25g Cashmere @ 1,125m each (total length 3,375m) will
be adequate and will even allow for one extra 40 st repeat of pattern for each border with 3 additional edging points to
make a shawl of about 64 ins /160cm: For extra BORDER* repeat = 9 x 40sts = 360 sts x 140 rows = 50,400 sts per
border + (9 x 27 extra starred sts = 243 ) = 50,643 sts a border + an edging of 17,500 sts + extra (3 x 500sts =) 1,500 edging
sts = 69,643 sts x 4 =
278,572 sts for 4 edged borders finishing with nine pattern repeats instead of 8 – see Overview, page 5.
Additionally, this Alternative Centre* will have an extra 3 repeats of 12 sts (247 + 36 = 283sts) and an extra (6th)
repeat of 66 rows : 384 + 66 = 450 rows x 283 = 127,350 sts + [7 repeats (39 x 7 = 273) =] 1,911 = 129,261 sts.
This makes a shawl stitch total of 129,261 sts (centre) + 278,572 sts (4 edged larger borders) = 407,833 sts which
when multiplied by .75cm = c305,874 or = c3,0589m. 3 @ 25g Cashmere should do - but might be wisest to get 4.
*Note: New Pick Up for centre sides of shawl : 450 rows = 225 ridges to pick 285 sts up from. This is a pick up rate
of '5 sts for every 4 ridges' (increases by 56 to 281 sts) so just do a tiny adjustment in the Break Pattern to get 285 sts.
Design Tip
BUT an easier way to make this shawl larger (see NOTE) is to simply work more rows for the centre by working about
twice as many rows as there are cast on stitches i.e. (247 cast on sts x 2 = 494 rows). Here, work the Original Centre's
62 row pattern SEVEN times, then repeat pattern rows 1- 40 once (474 rows) + 12 plain rows = total of 486 rows.
Now, this larger Original Centre's side figures are (486/2 =) 243 ridges. That is much nearer the 'borders figure' of 245
stitches. Pick up at the rate of 'a stitch per ridge' for 243 ridges and invisibly increase for the 2 extra. 243 + 2 = 245 sts.
The Alternative Centre can also be worked SEVEN times :
(66 x 7 =) 462 rows + (42 + 12) plain rows = total of 516 rows, which gives (516/2) 258 ridges which is slightly too
many ridges; so here, pick up the 258 sts for side borders again at the '1 st per ridge' rate (258 sts) and decrease out the
extra sts in the Break Pattern by doing 13 evenly spaced 'k4togs' (as 's.2, k2., pass 2 over') to get the desired 245 sts.
NOTE : Doing this simple enlargement 'relaxes' the tightness of the centre and allows its pattern to dress more openly –
effectively making the shawl size increase all round; but will use (Original: 247 x 486) 120,042 sts + (8 x 273 extra sts
= 2,184 sts) = 122,226 sts. This is about half of the total 'edged border amount' (*): so once the centre is done, weigh it
and ensure you have more than twice its weight of unused yarn left: maths check 1/3rd (centre) + 2/3rds (4 edged
borders) = 1 (shawl). An even bigger shawl can be made by making extra 'centre, border and edging repeats' as above!
© Heirloom Knitting 2010
Wedding Ring Shawl Preview page 4
Knitting with Gossamer Yarns
This is a preview page from
‘More Heirloom Knitting’
Knitting with a gossamer weight yarn is a challenge. I can clearly recall how daunted I was when I first tried to knit
with Shetland Cobweb 1 Ply - and a gossamer can be six times finer than that or finer! Why would anyone with a
plausible claim to sanity want to knit with something as difficult? Let’s face it, if you’re reading this, you’ve probably
got very entranced by lace knitting and want to create one of the magically fine and airy knitted lace pieces that only
working with gossamer will give – such as a Ring Shawl.
First things first, there is a skill to knitting with this yarn. You will need to work down (or do I mean ‘up’?!) to this
fineness: start with a Cobweb wool equivalent (that's approximately a standard 2 ply, and then go finer by trying
knitting with a strong thread such as a silk, sewing cotton or linen. I started adjusting by knitting projects with crochet
cottons, these come in a handy range of thickness, from a #10 (thickest) to #100 (finest – similar to a sewing thread).
The reason it’s a good idea to work in a strong thread first before a gossamer wool is that you can can get used to
manipulating the thread’s fineness without the accidental breakages that happen when working with the much more
fragile wools. The disadvantage with working with such smooth threads is that they are very slippery on polished
metal needles and stitches can fall off easily; to counteract this you can knit on wooden or bamboo needles: but you
won’t easily find these in the very fine sizes though for circular needles - normally not under a UK 14 / 2 mm / US 0,
but that size will do for training and most knitted lace purposes. You may need to apply a tiny drop of super-glue on
the arm/cable joins of circular needles to make sure the skinny stitches don't get trapped. Consider using straight
needles and 'flat knitting' all the borders if the stitch-trapping problem is too much for you.
Other good tips when first practising with fine yarns are: only work in a good light when not stressed; use point
protectors that fit over the needle ends and prevent stitches falling off when you leave knitting; put lifelines through
rows occasionally. If the yarn is a suitable one, spray entire finished knitted areas with spray starch and leave to
dry, to minimise stitches unravelling should you drop them later. It’s also quite heartening to know that the very first
few rows – especially the one after casting on – are the most difficult, as there is no worked fabric to add weight and so
the new stitches so like spiralling around the needle; as the knitting grows, it gets easier*. Just do practice garter stitch
squares of c 20 stitches only to start with; get used to unravelling these to accustom your fingers to the thread’s (and
ultimately the wool’s) fragility. Later, try similar size thread samples with lace stitches.
Next, while adjusting, it’s comforting to have another simpler project on the go for knitting at times when you don’t
want to concentrate as much. This will be the ‘pleasure knitting’ - learning to knit with gossamer yarns will be ‘task
knitting’ for the moment, because of the level of concentration you need; but remember, there once was a time when
you found all knitting difficult; and if you persist, you should find knitting with gossamer quite easy too!
The biggest things you have to acquire when working with the fragile gossamer wools (the ones that break with a
reasonably light pull) are smooth hands and lightness of touch. It is recorded that the original Shetland lace knitters
were apparently excused the heavier rougher housework to preserve the smoothness of their hands, and though some
Shetlanders now say that this is a myth in their experience (Unst Heritage Trust : A Stitch in Time) it’s true that
calloused fingers will snag, and must be avoided. Sorry, this isn’t handily going to let you off the gardening and so on,
but do use hand cream etc., to keep your hands soft. Also, you must have "snagless" nails, I keep a nail file in my
knitting kit for this reason.
Your goal while you are learning to size down is to see if you can knit a lace pattern swatch with a sewing cotton
and UK 14 / 2.00mm / US 0. If you can, you can start to think seriously of projects with gossamer wool. So at this
point, you should have successfully knitted with finer and finer thread, learnt to correct lace stitches on the needle and
have cultivated smooth hands. You are ready to try a fragile gossamer! Again, you will start with small garter stitch
samples in a needle in the larger size range and then work down to the weight of yarn/needle size you want to work
with. It’s crucial to have a light touch when using these yarns, so it’s still advisable to have two projects on the go with the alternative being an easier project in a thicker yarn. (However, it’s best to avoid working with yarns ‘thicker
than a Cobweb’ for the moment, as it can be confusing to switch from a much thicker yarn to a very fine one).
Start using gossamer by knitting woollen garter stitch squares of only about 20 sts x 40 rows and with no lace
patterning. When ready, experiment with unravelling a few of these rows and resuming knitting to gain confidence.
Once you feel content, try putting in lace stitches and then unravelling these to redo them ‘in situ’ too – this is good
practice for later when you need to correct lace mistakes. While doing this, experience and evaluate the fineness and
fragility of these yarns and consider carefully which projects you’d be happy using yarns like this for. When you feel
ready, start such knitting with a small project – a baby coat or a scarf, to see if you enjoy it enough to make working
with a gossamer one of your aims.
*You could use a waste wool cast on (provisional) to get round this – cast on and knit a few rows in a slightly thicker contrast yarn
before switching to the finer thread or wool. This will give you a few anchoring rows to hang on to for the initial fine rows – later,
the contrast yarn can be removed, see pattern page 11. (Words in light italics are to be explained in More Heirloom Knitting.)
© Heirloom Knitting 2010
Wedding Ring Shawl Preview page 5
This is a preview page from
‘More Heirloom Knitting’
As said, the test of a ring shawl is going to be that it can pass through a finger ring, but there is a definite procedure
for this: first the shawl must be repeatedly folded lengthways so that you get a long thin rectangle, then one of the
ends is taken and tightly twisted so that it will feed through a ring - see picture above. The ring can then readily
travel the length of the shawl – by lightly ‘spiral twisting’ the compressed shawl more tightly should it be necessary.
Obviously, this manoeuvre can only occur due to the extreme fineness of the yarn or thread employed to make the
shawl so the term ‘ring shawl’ usually refers to the fineness of the yarn rather than the complexity of the lace design,
but obviously for most people, the best ring shawls combine both. The one shown here weighed well under 4 ounces
/ 100g and was made with a thread of approx 17,000 yds per pound. These fine natural yarns and threads (such as
Cashmere, Shetland and Merino wool, or silk) are very hard to source; and usually for Shetland, are still hand spun.
If you are lucky enough to find a suitable yarn and have a strong inclination to knit a ring shawl, do make a swatch in
the yarn and pattern and see if the yarn will be strong enough, display well enough when dressed, won’t pill, etc. Do
not contemplate making one of these for anything other than specialist usage, the effort involved will take months and
the finished shawl will need very careful wear and aftercare to ensure its heirloom status. But after having said all
this, it’s got to be admitted that it is particularly satisfying to knit a project at such an advanced level and any skilled
knitter with the time and patience will truly be well rewarded with the achievement that comes from making a ring
shawl. The knitter can then look at museum exhibits of such shawls with a true sense of sisterhood, together with a
deeper appreciation of exactly what was undertaken by knitters of long ago. So don’t be too dissuaded from
attempting a ring shawl if you want to; just don’t unnecessarily pressurize yourself by knitting to a deadline if you
possible can avoid it, as this could lead you to making mistakes as well as spoiling your pleasure.
Left: My shawl going through my wedding
ring. I used extra fine viscose/merino
thread with a necessary very high twist;
it behaved exactly like a crepe bandage
and enthusiastically over-twisted back
on itself when wet, so needed courage
and very expert dressing.
I had
swatched thoroughly before starting and
was aware that I would have this
problem but also knew from swatching
first, that it could be overcome.
The shawl here took just over six months
approximately of knitting for about 2
hours daily – spread out over a year; so
around 400 work hours went into its
making.
© Heirloom Knitting 2010
Wedding Ring Shawl Preview page 6
This condensed advice is from The
Lerwick Lace Shawl as it applies here
Some Knitting Advice
Speak it quietly, but we all make mistakes and miscalculate ………. and I could show you many exquisite lace pieces - some
now in museums, with glaring mistakes knitted in, but they aren’t noticed by 99% of the visitors who just gasp deservedly, at
the beauty of the work. Too many knitters get totally upset over the knowledge that there is a tiny error in the piece they are
making and end up unravelling whole projects because of slightly less-than-perfect knitting. Don’t stress please, to that
extent – you’ll ruin your enjoyment and peace of mind if you let tiny things get to you such as a ‘mis-knit’ no one else can
see without you pointing it out. Just accept you will make mistakes, that doing so is part of learning, and then set about
learning how to avoid or rectify them.
Many people are nervous about whether they are “up to doing a pattern” - that they’ll get to a point in the border and stop,
unclear of what to do next. If you aren’t sure about a pattern and you’ve visually checked it through for whether you can do
it or better, if you want to alter it more to suit your taste; it’s a good idea to get into the habit of making samples - just
cast on for 1 or 2 repeats and knit as charted (or as you’ve re-charted). This is a quick way to familiarise yourself with
the pattern and so really saves mistakes later. You’ll also find out what you really like - or don’t, about a piece. Dress the
sample and get a distance on it to see clearly what features please or irritate – e.g. I didn’t like as much the pronounced line
in an edging caused by using a double insertion; knowing this, I could change that before the shawl was made!
Regularly examine your knitting in progress – say every 10 or 20 rows – to look for serious mistakes such as dropped
stitches, or ‘misknitted’ areas. It’s much simpler to put right a mistake at an early stage, than to realise its presence when it’s
too late to correct.
Another very good habit is to learn the counting for each row – that there are always ‘7 plain stitches’ between the pattern
stitches for example. As you get to the ‘7th’, just glance and check you’re on course and about to do the pattern stitches as
you should be: if not, have you dropped a stitch or missed an increase? You can easily pick up a previous row’s dropped
stitch, or knit into a strand if you’ve missed a ‘make 1’, or now put right a missed decrease. Oftentimes, a simple misknit
can be put right by making/decreasing a stitch, BUT always check carefully first the area beneath to ensure there isn’t a
rogue dropped stitch lurking to ladder (undo) later. As you get more expert, you’ll be able to correct mistakes even several
rows back in a pattern section, thereby avoiding the need to unravel.
Shetland lace knitting in progress always looks miserably shrivelled – as in fairness, does all unshaped lace; so when
checking, gently stretch each area of knitting over your knee as fully as you can and examine it. If you find a mistake, it
might very well be easy to sort out - or, if the very worst has happened, you can undo that entire section of knitting. The
“very worst” I’m visualizing here is a gaping, impossible-to-retrieve hole, a missed set of rows or a misplacing of a motif –
something that will really disturb the entire harmony of design. These errors are best avoided by not doing complicated
knitting such as “set up pattern Row 1”s of charts when tired or distracted, and by an automatic routine of checking of
place in pattern chart and actual knitting. (Weave a length of coloured yarn around repeat groups of stitches when you ‘set
them up’ on the first few rows: for this pattern, I’d suggest using it around the ‘groups of 40’ in the borders. This helps you
locate the forming motifs.) If it actually comes to it that you need to undo the last session of knitting and you’re not
confident that you can resume all the stitches, go over the area below it with spray starch and leave the knitting to dry. Then,
when you do unravel the knitting, the stitches you don’t want undone will be less likely to undo themselves - and the starch
will wash out later if it's done soon enough. My rule for mistakes is that only you should know if they are there or not!
Here’s two mistakes in
my Grey shawl, one a
mis-knitted increase in a
‘seam’ left; and one a
mistake: a dropped
stitch in a double decrease right, that came
to light by “pinging
open” as I dressed the
shawl.
Needle and wool soon
rectified both :
Many Shetland shawl
dressers would be expert
in small repairs, though it
seems sometimes they’d
miss one, see the exhibit
of a 1930s fine shawl
border below. A good
knitter should be able to
easily repair this - it seems
another decrease failed and
so holed here!
Always backstitch the
repair yarn into areas
with decreases to hide
the bulk of the yarn,
then catch in the lost
stitches to their correct
place before sewing in
the yarn end with a few
more neat backstitches.
Ensure that the repair is
correctly tensioned by
stretching it as you sew.
© Heirloom Knitting 2010
Wedding Ring Shawl Preview page 7