Classic Elite Yarns Highland Fling Wrap Knitting Pattern

Highland Fling Shawl and Wrap

What is Being Made

The Highland Fling is a garter stitch wrap designed by Susan Mills and originally published in Fall 2011 in the Classic Elite Yarns collection Crestone & Vista. This is a triangular or tapered shawl worked in a seamless, flat construction that builds from a small cast-on to a larger finished piece. The wrap features a distinctive sawtooth border combined with a garter stitch body, making it both decorative and functional as a versatile accessory.

Techniques and Construction Method

The Highland Fling employs a sideways construction technique, meaning the wrap is worked horizontally across its width rather than from top to bottom. This approach allows for strategic shaping and the integration of the decorative border pattern throughout the piece. The wrap is worked flat on straight needles, not in the round, which simplifies the construction for intermediate-level knitters.

The pattern uses a marker-based increase system to shape the wrap as it grows. Increases are strategically placed on right-side rows to create the tapered silhouette. The construction progresses through multiple repeats of the border pattern, with increases concentrated in specific rows to control the rate of growth and achieve the desired final dimensions.

Stitches and Stitch Patterns

The Highland Fling incorporates several key stitches and techniques:

• Garter Stitch (Gtr st): The main body of the wrap is worked entirely in garter stitch, created by knitting every row. This produces a dense, reversible fabric with horizontal ridges that lies flat and provides excellent drape.
• Yarn Over (yo): Used throughout the border pattern to create decorative openwork and lace elements that define the sawtooth edge.
• Make Bobble (MB): A textured stitch element incorporated into the border pattern at regular intervals (rows 3, 7, and 11 of the border repeat). Bobbles add visual interest and three-dimensional texture to the sawtooth border.
• Knit Front and Back (k1-f/b): An increase method used to add stitches in the garter stitch section. This technique creates a visible increase that becomes part of the fabric's texture.
• Bind Off (BO): The border pattern includes a bind-off step that resets the stitch count, allowing the pattern to repeat cleanly.

The border pattern itself is a 12-row repeat that increases from 6 stitches to 17 stitches and back to 6 stitches, creating the characteristic sawtooth or scalloped edge. The pattern combines knit and purl stitches with yarn overs and bobbles to achieve its decorative effect.

Materials: Yarn and Needles

While the specific yarn weight and needle size are not detailed in the provided pattern excerpt, the Highland Fling is designed to showcase Classic Elite Yarns products. The pattern is intended to be worked with yarns from the Classic Elite Yarns collection. Knitters should consult the complete pattern documentation or the Classic Elite Yarns website for specific yarn recommendations and needle size requirements appropriate to their chosen yarn.

Skill Level

This pattern is rated as Intermediate, making it suitable for knitters with some experience beyond basic techniques. The combination of garter stitch simplicity with the more complex border pattern and strategic increases requires familiarity with pattern reading, stitch abbreviations, and the ability to work increases and bobbles accurately.