Hufflepuff Lace Shawl

I'd come up with a different name, but the shawl was for my daughter and when I handed it over she said that it had Hufflepuff colors, so I guess we'll go with that. 

About the Yarn 

The yarn is Loops and Threads Chameleon in the Creme Brulee colorway. It comes in huge, fluffy 429 yard  skeins -- or did until it was discontinued about thirty-eight seconds after we found it at Michaels and my daughter hinted that it would make a nice shawl. It was also dirt cheap. I think I paid a sale price of four or five dollars.

When I cast on, I was following a completely different pattern and made it more than halfway through before I knit the wrong row from the lace chart and things went very wrong. This yarn is sticky and a pain to unravel. For your own sanity, try to pick out a project and stick with it. It's not too splitty to begin with, but after it's been unravelled once or twice, the two loosely spun plies get a little challenging.

If I had another skein to play with I'd definitely wind it into a ball before casting on. That big fluffy skein was pretty, but I spent a lot of time unwinding yarn to knit my next row.  And I had a knot. Mine didn't mess up the self-striping sequence, but over on Ravelry there are reports of multiple knots in each skein.

Want to Knit This One for Yourself? 

I didn't set out to create a pattern, so the setup rows I'm giving you don't match what I did on my shawl. (I followed someone else's instructions for the first dozen rows or so and then got an idea of my own...and by the time I realized how much I liked my own version the shawl was halfway done and I wasn't re-knitting it a third time just to get pictures that match the instructions.) The body of the shawl is the way I did mine and that's  the part you need.

If you've knit a triangular shawl before, this will be easy. If you haven't, but know how to knit, it will still be easy. Just bear with me for my version of the setup rows.

The shawl starts with a garter stitch tab. I couldn't do a provisional cast on to save my own life, so my version isn't how everyone else does it. If you know how to do it, please do it that way. Or, in an absolute pinch, you could cast on stitches and place markers and go from there, but that's what I did on my shawl and I really wouldn't do it that way again. It makes the shaping wonky...as if anyone is going to look at the nape of your neck and critique your shawl.




After you do the set up, which is explained in the video, you'll have twelve stitches, divided by stitch markers into five sections.

Right Side -- Slip the first stitch as if to purl, knit the second stitch, slip marker, make stitch,  knit to next marker, make stitch, slip marker, knit two center stitches, slip marker, make stitch,  knit to next marker, make stitch, slip marker, knit two.

Wrong Side -- Slip the first stitch as if to purl, knit the second stitch, slip marker,  knit to next marker,  slip marker, knit two center stitches, slip marker,  knit to next marker, slip marker, knit two.

Repeat these two rows five times, ending after a wrong side row.

If you cast on the way I did in the video, you'll have an odd number of stitches in the body of the shawl. Just increase one extra stitch in each body section on the last row and you'll have the even number of stitches you need for the lace.

Knit a lace band, then a seed stitch band, then a lace band, then a garter stitch band...and keep repeating that sequence, ending with a seed stitch or garter stitch band. Bind off loosely.

Lace Band (repeat these four rows twice)

Right Side -- Slip the first stitch as if to purl, knit the second stitch, slip marker, make stitch,  **knit two together, yarn over** to next market, make stitch, slip marker, knit two center stitches, slip marker, make stitch,  **knit two together, yarn over** to next marker, make stitch, slip marker, knit two.

Wrong Side -- Slip the first stitch as if to purl, knit the second stitch, slip marker, purl to next marker, slip marker, knit two center stitches , slip marker, purl to next marker, knit two.

Right Side -- Slip the first stitch as if to purl, knit the second stitch, slip marker, make stitch,  **yarn over, ssk** to next marker, make stitch, slip marker, knit two center stitches, slip marker, make stitch,  **yarn over, ssk** to next marker, make stitch, slip marker, knit two.

Wrong Side -- Slip the first stitch as if to purl, knit the second stitch, slip marker, purl to next marker, slip marker, knit two center stitches , slip marker, purl to next marker, knit two.

Seed Stitch Band (repeat these two rows twice)

Right Side -- Slip the first stitch as if to purl, knit the second stitch, slip marker, make stitch,  **knit one, purl one ** to next marker, make stitch, slip marker, knit two center stitches, slip marker, make stitch,  **knit one, purl one ** to next marker, make stitch, slip marker, knit two.

Wrong Side -- Slip the first stitch as if to purl, knit the second stitch, slip marker,  **knit one, purl one ** to next marker,  slip marker, knit two center stitches, slip marker,    **knit one, purl one ** to next marker, slip marker, knit two.

Late nights and missed increases gave me problems with this band. Watch your stitching and make sure that you're knitting the purls and purling the knits to get the seed stitch.

Garter Stitch Band (repeat these two rows twice)

Right Side -- Slip the first stitch as if to purl, knit the second stitch, slip marker, make stitch,  knit to next marker, make stitch, slip marker, knit two center stitches, slip marker, make stitch,  knit to next marker, make stitch, slip marker, knit two.

Wrong Side -- Slip the first stitch as if to purl, knit the second stitch, slip marker,  knit to next marker,  slip marker, knit two center stitches, slip marker,  knit to next marker, slip marker, knit two.