Louisa Harding Half Moon Wrap Knitting Pattern

Louisa Harding Half Moon Shawl

What is Being Made

The Louisa Harding Half Moon is a crescent-shaped lace shawl designed to be worn as a wrap. This downloadable knitting pattern creates a finished piece with a wingspan of 60 inches (152.5cm) and a length of 20¾ inches (52.5cm), making it an elegant accessory suitable for layering or draping across the shoulders.

Techniques Used

This shawl is constructed using lace knitting techniques combined with short-row shaping to create its distinctive half-moon silhouette. The garment is worked flat on a circular needle, progressing side to side in a series of short-rowed wedges rather than from the top down or bottom up. This construction method allows the shawl to develop its curved crescent shape organically as the wedges are completed.

The pattern incorporates wrap and turn (w&t) techniques to execute the short rows that form each wedge section. When working short rows in garter stitch, the pattern notes that wraps do not need to be picked up and knit together with their stitches; they are left in place for a cleaner finish. The finishing process involves deliberately unraveling dropped stitches down to the cast-on edge, creating decorative ladder-like details that are characteristic of this lace design.

Stitches Used

The Half Moon shawl employs a focused stitch vocabulary centered on fundamental knitting techniques:

• Garter stitch forms the primary fabric base, created by knitting every row on both right-side and wrong-side rows
• Knit through the back loop (k1 tbl) stitches are strategically placed to create texture and serve as anchor points for the dropped-stitch lace details
• Purl through the back loop (p1 tbl) stitches appear on wrong-side rows and work in concert with the k1 tbl stitches
• Yarn overs (yo) are used during the bind-off sequence to create the decorative edge finish
• Slip stitches are worked purlwise with yarn in front throughout the pattern unless otherwise directed

The gauge for this pattern is 14.5 stitches and 24 rows over 4 inches (10cm) in garter stitch when blocked, which is essential for achieving the correct finished dimensions.

Materials and Tools

The Half Moon shawl requires 2 balls of 100g Lirico yarn in the colorway 105 O Fortuna. The pattern specifies a US 9/5.5mm circular needle measuring 32 inches (80cm) in length. A circular needle is recommended to accommodate the expanding size of the piece as the shawl grows. Additional materials include a stitch marker to track pattern repeats and a yarn needle for weaving in ends during finishing. The pattern notes recommend the use of LYKKE® needles for best results, indicating a preference for high-quality needle construction.

Pattern Structure

The shawl begins with a cast-on of 76 stitches and progresses through a series of short-row wedges, each consisting of multiple rows that build upon the previous wedge. The pattern uses repeat sections marked by double asterisks (**) that are worked 13 additional times after the initial sequence, creating the layered wedge construction. The bind-off is worked in a specialized manner that incorporates yarn overs and stitch passes to create a decorative finished edge, with specific instructions to drop certain stitches that are then unraveled to the cast-on edge for the final lace effect.