String Hazel Shawl Scarf Knitting Pattern

String Hazel Shawl

What Is Being Made

The Hazel Shawl is a luxurious rectangular wrap designed by Lisa Hoffman, measuring 13 inches by 60 inches (33cm by 152cm). This one-size shawl combines elegant cable work with openwork details, creating a sophisticated accessory suitable for layering or draping. The finished piece showcases a balanced design with decorative cable elements framed by broken rib edging on both sides.

Techniques Used

This shawl is worked flat on circular needles, meaning you knit back and forth in rows rather than in the round. The construction begins with a cast-on of 66 stitches and incorporates several key knitting techniques:

• Cable work using cable needles to create twisted stitch patterns that add visual interest and texture
• Mirror cable patterning, where cable motifs are reversed symmetrically around a center point for balanced aesthetics
• Openwork techniques using yarn overs to create decorative holes and lacy sections within the cable design
• Decreasing and increasing at specific points to shape the shawl, including centered decreases and increases that maintain pattern symmetry
• Stitch marker placement to help organize pattern sections and track the mirror cable work across the center of the shawl

Stitches Used

The Hazel Shawl employs a variety of fundamental and intermediate stitches to achieve its textured appearance:

• Knit and purl stitches as the foundation for creating texture and definition
• Broken rib pattern (multiple of 4 stitches plus 2), which alternates knit and purl stitches to create a subtle ribbed edge that frames the cable sections
• Cable stitches including C4b (cable 4 back) and C4f (cable 4 front), which involve slipping stitches to a cable needle, working stitches from the left needle, then working the cable needle stitches to create twisted rope-like textures
• Yarn overs (yo) paired with decreases to form the openwork sections
• K3tog (knit 3 together) as a centered decrease that reduces three stitches to one
• P2tog (purl 2 together) for decreasing during shaping rows
• Kf/b (knit into front and back) for increasing stitches while maintaining pattern continuity

Materials and Gauge

The Hazel Shawl pattern calls for 7 balls of String TUSCANY yarn in the colorway #517493 bluestone tweed. This premium yarn blend contains 58% cashmere, 28% English Fell lambswool, 8% silk, and 5% other fibers, offering exceptional softness and drape. Each ball weighs 50 grams (1.75 ounces) and yields 140 meters (154 yards) of yarn.

The pattern is worked on US 8 (5mm) circular needles measuring 24 inches, though you may adjust needle size to obtain the correct gauge. A cable needle is essential for executing the cable stitches, along with stitch markers to organize the pattern sections and a yarn needle for weaving in ends.

The required gauge is 20 stitches and 25½ rows over 4 inches (10cm) in the cable and openwork pattern. Checking gauge before beginning is critical to ensure the finished shawl meets the intended measurements.

Pattern Structure

The shawl begins with a cast-on followed by 6 rows of mistake rib patterning to establish the foundation. The main body features an 18-row repeat of the mirror cable pattern, worked between stitch markers with broken rib edging on either side. The pattern continues until approximately 2 inches before the desired finished length, then concludes with specific rows to create a balanced ending. Strategic increase and decrease rows maintain stitch count while shaping the piece symmetrically.