Classic Elite Yarns Viewpoints From Folly Cove - Meteori Shawl

Meteori Shawl by Julia Farwell-Clay

What is Being Made

The Meteori Shawl is a top-down, seamless triangular wrap designed to evoke the cosmic imagery from Virginia Lee Burton's final book, Life Story. The shawl features a finished width of 62 inches across the top and measures 28 inches long from top edge to bottom point after blocking. The design incorporates radiant lace elements that begin at seemingly random points throughout the fabric, building progressively toward a meteor shower effect near the scalloped border, creating an elegant interpretation of a celestial cascade.

Techniques Used

This intermediate-level knitting project employs several key techniques to achieve its distinctive appearance:

• Top-down construction: The shawl is worked from the center top downward, allowing the knitter to try on the piece and adjust the final length as desired before binding off.
• Seamless knitting: The entire shawl is created as one continuous piece without seaming, maintaining the integrity of the lace pattern throughout.
• Worked flat: Despite using circular needles, the shawl is worked back and forth in rows rather than in the round, which is typical for triangular wrap construction.
• Lace knitting: The pattern incorporates deliberate yarn overs and decreases to create openwork sections that form the radiant and meteor shower lace elements central to the design.
• Stitch marker placement: A removable stitch marker is used to track the center stitch, which must be moved up as each row is completed to maintain pattern alignment.

Stitches Used

The Meteori Shawl utilizes fundamental knitting stitches combined in strategic ways to create lace effects:

• Stockinette stitch (St st): The primary fabric base, worked in knit on right-side rows and purl on wrong-side rows.
• Eyelet Column stitch: A five-stitch repeat pattern that forms decorative openwork. This stitch combines slip-slip-knit decreases (ssk), yarn overs (yo), knit through the back loop (k1 tbl), and knit-two-together decreases (k2tog) on right-side rows, with corresponding purl stitches on wrong-side rows.
• Yarn overs (yo): Used throughout to create the lace holes and increase stitches as the shawl expands from the center point.
• Decreases: Slip-slip-knit (ssk) and knit-two-together (k2tog) decreases balance the yarn overs and shape the triangular silhouette.
• Knit through the back loop (k1 tbl): Used in specific positions within the Eyelet Column pattern to add textural interest and definition to the lace elements.

Materials

The Meteori Shawl pattern calls for specific materials to achieve the intended finished measurements and drape:

• Yarn: MountainTop Mohawk Wool by Classic Elite Yarns, a blend of 60% merino wool, 30% Romney wool, and 10% nylon. Each 100-gram skein provides approximately 375 yards of yarn. The pattern requires 2 hanks in colorway 3375 Gull Gray, providing sufficient yardage for the full 62-inch by 28-inch finished shawl.
• Needles: US size 6 (4 mm) circular knitting needles measuring 32 inches in length. Circular needles of this length accommodate the increasing stitch count as the shawl expands, while the 32-inch length provides adequate needle space for working flat.
• Additional notions: A removable stitch marker is required to track the center stitch throughout the construction process.

Gauge and Finishing

Achieving proper gauge is essential for obtaining the correct finished dimensions. The pattern specifies 18 stitches and 29 rows over 4 inches in stockinette stitch when blocked, with approximately 17 stitches and 29 rows equaling 4 inches in pattern stitch when blocked. Blocking is a critical finishing step that sets the lace pattern and achieves the stated measurements. The shawl features a scalloped border that is enhanced through proper blocking techniques.