Lightning Strike Shawl
- nataliapleshko
- Dec 15, 2024
- 3 min read
Narrow triangular shawl, knitting pattern
Lightning Strike Shawl is an asymmetrical triangular shawl that works from a tip with constant increases on one side. Regularly alternating sections of a lace stitch pattern and horizontal ribbing are finished with several bind-off stitches to create a zig-zagging edge.
The shawl has several loops on the widest side. These loops work as a fastening, push the narrow end through the loops and you don’t need to tie the shawl or use the shawl pin to hold the shawl in place.
Inspiration
The idea for this design started with my crochet design Bolt, which was published in the book 60 Quick Crochet Projects for Beginners. Here's the picture of the crochet version:
I do sometimes convert crochet designs into knitting or vice versa, and I call them Sibling patterns. Because the crochet shawl was published in the book and there is no option to publish it as a single pattern, I decided to convert this design into knitting. It was interesting to explore knit stitch patterns to find similar looks for a crochet stitch.
Yarn
The crochet version is made with sport weigh yarn, and I wanted to stay in the same category, plus I wanted to use some of my stash yarn, so my choice for the project - Hedgehog Fibres Merino DK. I thought that the bright yellow color would be great to stay on the topic of lightnings for the design: crochet Bolt --> knit Lightning Strike. The exact name of the color is Egg Yolk :).
Hedgehog Fibres Merino DK is 100 % Merino Wool with 219 yds (200 m)/4.06 oz (115 g).
You can't go wrong with the merino yarn. Always soft and great for next to the skin projects. I like that this one has a good twist, which gives you nice stitch definition.
I looked at Hedgehog Fibres website for this yarn, and I think they changed the weight of the skeins a little bit, now it shows 200 yds/100 g. Just pay attention to the yardage, if you want to order Merino DK and make the shawl of exact measurements as my sample.
Construction
This is an asymmetrical, triangular shawl that’s worked from one tip and gradually widens on one side as it progresses. The shawl is worked in alternating sections of ribbing and lace, and each section starts with binding off of few stitches, which gives you a zig-zagging edge on one side.
One extra thing that I did differently from the crochet version, I added several loops to the widest side. These loops work as a fastening, push the narrow end through the loops and you don’t need to tie the shawl or use the shawl pin to hold the shawl in place. I wish I could update my crochet pattern, but the book was published before I thought about this trick.
Stitch patterns
You will be working with two stitch patterns plus I-cord:
Horizontal ribbing using lateral braid knit stitch. Lateral braid is a kinda unusual stitch. Of course, there is a description of the stitch in the pattern, but the best way to understand it is probably to watch the video tutorial.
Lace Net Stitch has yarn overs and an interesting decrease. The video tutorial for this pattern is on my YouTube channel @natalia_yarncraft.
And the last one you need to know is I-cord. There are plenty of tutorials on YouTube that you can find for actual I-cord, but I've also added an extra video on how to connect the I-cord to the edge of the shawl.
Skills needed to make the shawl
You need to know how to do knit and purl stitches, yarn over, and simple decreases. 2 special stitches are introduced, and video tutorials are included for both of them (shown above).
Size: one size
Finished measurements: 78” (195 cm) long and 16” (40 cm) wide on one side.
What do you need to make the shawl
Yarn: 485 yds (440 m) of DK weight yarn
Sample made with Hedgehog Fibres Merino DK, 100% Merino, 220 yds (200 m)/4 oz (115 g), color Egg Yolk
Needles: size US 7 (4.5 mm) circular needles 24” (60 cm) long and optional 2 double point needles of the same size.
If you’re a tight knitter, use at least 1 size bigger needles.
Notions: tapestry needle, optional marker
Comments