Valley Yarns 40th Anniversary Tirrick Shawl Knitting Pattern

Valley Yarns 40th Anniversary Tirrick Shawl

What Is Being Made

The Tirrick Shawl is a triangular lace shawl designed by Gudrun Johnston for Valley Yarns' Guest Designer Series #14. This intermediate-level knitting project creates a finished shawl with a wingspan of approximately 42 inches and a depth of about 16¾ inches. The shawl features authentic Shetland lace work combined with a stockinette stitch background, offering a contemporary take on traditional Shetland lace construction.

Construction and Techniques

The Tirrick Shawl employs a distinctive bottom-up construction method that begins at the widest edge and is worked flat toward the center top edge. Rather than using the traditional garter stitch ground commonly found in Shetland lace shawls, this design features a stockinette background, which creates a modern contrast to the delicate lace pattern. The shawl is constructed in five wedge sections, with decreases worked strategically throughout the lace pattern. Each wedge section decreases stitches at the same rate, gradually reducing the stitch count until only a few stitches remain at the completion of the project.

The designer, Gudrun Johnston, incorporated a specific lace pattern that was developed accidentally by Shetland knitter Zena Thompson. Although described as a simple lace, the pattern creates a visually pleasing effect when worked across the stockinette background. Edge stitches are maintained in garter stitch throughout the project, with 3 stitches kept in garter at either end of each row to create clean, finished edges.

Stitches Used

• Stockinette Stitch: Forms the primary background fabric throughout the shawl
• Garter Stitch: Used for 3-stitch borders on both edges of each row to frame the design
• Lace Pattern Stitches: The primary lace motif includes knit stitches, yarn overs (yo), slip-stitch-knit two together-pass slipped stitch over (sl1-k2tog-psso) decreases, and slipped stitches to create the characteristic openwork pattern
• Decreases: Central to the wedge construction, with decreases integrated into the lace pattern itself rather than worked separately

Materials and Gauge

The Tirrick Shawl requires 2 skeins of Valley Yarns Charlemont Hand-Dyed by Dream in Color in the Blue Fish colorway, totaling approximately 600 yards of yarn. Valley Yarns Charlemont is a luxury blend composed of 60% Merino wool, 20% nylon, and 20% silk, with each skein containing 439 yards per 100 grams. This fiber blend provides elasticity, durability, and a subtle sheen to the finished shawl.

The project is worked on US 5 (3.75mm) circular needles in a 40-inch length, or the size needed to achieve the specified gauge. The recommended gauge is 25 stitches and 25 rows equals 4 inches in the Lace Pattern. Additional materials include 6 stitch markers to delineate the five wedge sections and edge stitches throughout the construction process.

Difficulty Level

Rated as an intermediate-level project, the Tirrick Shawl is suitable for knitters with foundational skills who are ready to work with lace patterns and manage multiple decreases within a lace repeat. The combination of stockinette background, garter stitch edges, and integrated lace decreases requires attention to stitch counts and pattern awareness, making it an engaging project for advancing knitters.