847 Sugar Cone Shawl - Knitting Pattern for Women in Valley Yarns 2/14 Alpaca Silk

847 Sugar Cone Shawl – Knitting Pattern for Women in Valley Yarns 2/14 Alpaca Silk

The 847 Sugar Cone Shawl is an elegant, long rectangular shawl designed by Julie Turjoman and knitted in Valley Yarns 2/14 Alpaca Silk, a luxurious lace weight yarn. Measuring a generous 72 inches long by 18½ inches wide, this shawl is designed to drape beautifully over the shoulders, making it an ideal extra layer for cool evenings or special occasions. The pattern is rated intermediate in difficulty and is worked flat, making it accessible to knitters who are comfortable with lace techniques but ready to take on a more refined project.

What Is Being Made

This pattern produces a single, long rectangular shawl with a sophisticated combination of a faggoted lace field and deep lace borders. The faggoted lace field creates an airy, open texture across the main body of the shawl, while the deep lace borders — worked in the Sugar Cone lace border stitch — frame the piece with intricate, decorative detail. The result is a garment that is lightweight yet warm, with extraordinary drape and a subtle sheen that elevates it from a simple accessory to a truly refined piece.

Techniques Used

• Worked flat: The shawl is knitted back and forth in rows rather than in the round, which is a straightforward approach well-suited to rectangular shawl construction.
• Lace knitting: Lace is created through a series of yarn-overs and corresponding decreases that form deliberate holes and patterns in the fabric. This technique requires careful attention to stitch counts and pattern repeats.
• Faggoting: The main field of the shawl uses faggoted lace, a classic openwork technique that creates a delicate, ladder-like or mesh-like texture through a consistent alternation of yarn-overs and decreases across every row.
• Long-Tail Cast On: The pattern specifies the Long-Tail method for casting on 130 stitches, a technique favored for its elasticity and neat, finished edge — particularly important in lace work where the cast-on edge is visible.
• Blocking: While not always explicitly detailed in abbreviated pattern summaries, blocking is an essential finishing technique for lace knitting. Wet blocking opens up the lace motifs and allows the full beauty of the stitch pattern to emerge, which is especially effective with the alpaca and silk fiber content of this yarn.

Stitches Used

• Sugar Cone lace border stitch: The signature stitch of this pattern, used for the deep decorative borders. Gauge is measured in this stitch at 28 stitches and 34 rows to 4 inches on US Size 5 needles.
• Faggoted lace stitch: Used across the main field of the shawl to create an open, airy texture that complements the heavier lace borders.
• Standard knit and bind-off stitches are also referenced in the pattern abbreviations, forming the structural foundation of the piece.

Materials

The pattern calls for 1 cone of Valley Yarns 2/14 Alpaca Silk, a lace weight yarn composed of 80% Alpaca and 20% Silk. Each cone contains approximately 1,736 yards and weighs half a pound, providing ample yardage for the full shawl. The colorway shown is Eggplant, a rich, deep purple that beautifully complements the yarn's natural sheen.

The alpaca content gives the shawl both warmth and a feather-light softness, while the silk content adds a lovely luminous sheen and contributes to the yarn's exceptional drape. Together, these fibers make Valley Yarns 2/14 Alpaca Silk a particularly well-suited choice for a lace shawl, as the yarn's fluid quality allows the open stitch patterns to bloom and flow naturally.

Recommended needles are US Size 5 (3.75 mm), or the size needed to achieve the specified gauge. Additional materials include stitch markers and a tapestry needle for finishing.

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