I have something really exciting to share with you today; a new shawl pattern!
Meet Wild Poppies; the latest addition to my eBook ‘Wildflower: The Lace Collection‘.
The petal pattern reminds me of the shape of poppy petals, hence the name!
Copyright Jesse Wild/Charlotte Walford
This one has been quite some time in the making, so I’m delighted that I finally have it ready to share with you.
Wild Poppies features an unusual lace patterned spine and a border inspired by poppy petals; which you can bead as much or a little as you like. I’ve beaded the spine and the border in the purple variegated version (shown above) but in the red version (shown below) I’ve just added beads to the very edge. The pattern provides options for both versions so you can really make the shawl your own.
Copyright Jesse Wild/Charlotte Walford
I’ve designed this shawl to be knitted in just one skein of either heavy lace (lace weight yarn with around 600m/100g skein) or 4ply weight yarn (with around 400m/100g skein) and the lace pattern works well with solid or lightly variegated yarns so you can easily pick a favourite skein from your stash and make something pretty with it (if you’re anything like me then you’ll have quite a lot of single skeins to choose from). There’s also a handy table of estimated yarn and bead quantities in case you want to make a larger or smaller shawl.
As usual with my patterns, all lace patterns have both charts and written instructions so you can work from whichever you prefer and the charts are provided on a separate page at the end of the pattern, so there’s no wasted paper if you don’t want to use them.
Copyright Jesse Wild/Charlotte Walford
So, why design this shawl?
I loved the original border pattern I designed for my Rockrose Wrap so much I wanted to incorporate it into a heart shaped shawl, not just by adapting it into an expanding border pattern, but also using it to add interest to the increases at spine of the shawl as well, creating a softer, more flattering shape than a traditional triangular shawl.
I’ve thought for a while that the design opportunities that the spine of a triangular shawl presents are to often ignored. Just because you have to work increases doesn’t mean they always have to be a straight line of yarn overs! Why not use a different increase or make a feature of it? It certainly makes the body of the shawl more fun and interesting to work!
Copyright Jesse Wild/Charlotte Walford
I think it’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever made, (even if I do say so myself) but I can’t claim all the credit, the beautiful yarn I used certainly helps; Posh Yarn Lorelei Sock (the purple variegated shawl) and Posh Yarn Valerie Heavy Lace (the red shawl). Unfortunately Valerie Heavy Lace is being discontinued, but Posh Yarn are having one last update with the yarn this Sunday at 7pm. If you miss out on that, their Diana Heavy Lace or Miranda Heavy Lace yarns would both make lovely substitutes.
Hope you like it!
Lottie x
Thanks to Jeni from Fyberspates and the amazing Jesse Wild, who took these lovely photos of me and the shawl on their photoshoot earlier this year and also to my lovely test knitters.
Lottieknits 