Gardiner Yarn Works Toe the Line Shawl Wrap Knitting Pattern

Gardiner Yarn Works Toe the Line Shawl

What Is Being Made

The Toe the Line Shawl is a triangular neck-down shawl designed by Chrissy Gardiner. This lace shawl features a simple graphic eyelet pattern throughout and includes a knitted-on border. The finished dimensions are 40 inches wide by 70 inches long, making it a generous wrap suitable for layering or wearing as a statement piece. The design is intended to become a treasured heirloom, combining elegant lace work with practical wearability.

Techniques Used

This shawl employs several key knitting techniques to achieve its final structure and aesthetic:

• Top-down construction: The shawl begins at the neck with a small cast-on of 5 stitches and expands downward as stitches are increased throughout the pattern.
• Seamless knitting: The entire shawl is worked as one continuous piece without seaming, creating a unified fabric.
• Worked flat: Despite being seamless, the shawl is worked flat on straight needles rather than in the round, allowing for easy manipulation of the triangular shape.
• Lace knitting: The shawl features lace stitches created through yarn overs and decreases that form the graphic eyelet pattern central to the design.
• Stitch marker placement: Markers are strategically placed to help organize stitch distribution and track pattern repeats across the expanding width.
• Garter stitch borders: Two border stitches worked in garter stitch (knit every row) frame each side of the shawl, providing structure and preventing edge curl.

Stitches Used

The Toe the Line Shawl incorporates fundamental knitting stitches combined to create lace effects:

• Knit (k): The basic knit stitch forms the foundation of the fabric and is used extensively in border sections.
• Purl (p): Purl stitches appear in the interior rows between lace pattern repeats.
• Yarn over (YO): This stitch creates the openings that form the eyelet pattern characteristic of lace knitting. Yarn overs also serve as increase stitches that expand the shawl from the center outward.
• Knit 2 together (k2tog): This decrease stitch balances the yarn overs and shapes the lace pattern.
• Slip, slip, knit (SSK): An alternative decrease stitch used to create balanced decreases within the lace motifs.
• Slip 1, knit 2 together, pass slipped stitch over (SK2P): A double decrease stitch that creates more pronounced decreases within the lace pattern.
• Slip stitch (sl): Stitches are slipped as if to purl when working across marker positions to maintain pattern continuity.
• Garter stitch: Created by knitting every row, this stitch provides the stable borders on both sides of the shawl.

Materials and Tools

The Toe the Line Shawl requires specific yarn weight and needle size to achieve the intended drape and finished dimensions:

• Yarn: Lace-weight yarn is required, with a minimum yardage of 650 yards. The sample shown uses Lorna's Laces Helen's Lace in the Blackberry colorway, though any lace-weight yarn of sufficient yardage can be substituted.
• Needles: Size 5 (3.75mm) needles or a size that allows you to obtain proper gauge after blocking. The needles should be straight needles suitable for working flat.
• Gauge: Approximately 25.5 stitches and 28 rows equal 4 inches in lace stitch after blocking. The pattern notes that gauge is not critical for this project, offering flexibility for crafters working with different yarn weights or needle sizes.
• Additional tools: Stitch markers are essential for tracking pattern repeats and managing stitch distribution across the expanding rows.

Pattern Structure and Difficulty

The pattern is rated as advanced beginner level, making it accessible to knitters with some experience but not necessarily advanced skills. The shawl begins with a simple setup phase consisting of 10 rows