Arachne Shawl

The talented but arrogant Greek weaver, Arachne, feeling she was better than the patron goddess of weaving, Athena, agreed to a contest of skill. Although Arachne’s skill shone in her contest with the goddess, Athena was angered by the scenes depicted in Arachne’s weaving of the gods treating mortals unfairly, and tore it to shreds. In despair at the destruction of her weaving, Arachne committed suicide. Athena took pity on her and turned her into a spider, to allow her and her descendants to weave for all time.

This semi-circular shawl features geometric lace sections and twisted-stitch spider sections, mimicking Arachne’s web. The increases are worked between pattern bands using yarn-overs. The shawl is worked beginning at the neck down to the hem, with a garter-stitch tab.

This pattern is written for approximately 725-775 yards of a fingering-weight yarn.

This pattern is also included in the Legendary Knits, volume 2, collection of patterns, which is available