Anice Shawl in Rowan Kidsilk Haze - ZM72-00042-DEP - Downloadable PDF

Anice Shawl in Rowan Kidsilk Haze – Advanced Lace Knitting Pattern by Sharon Miller

The Anice Shawl is an exquisite, large-format lace shawl designed by Sharon Miller and published by Rowan. Released as a downloadable PDF (pattern reference ZM72-00042-DEP), this pattern is rated advanced and is intended for experienced knitters who are confident working with fine lace-weight yarn and complex stitch charts. The finished shawl measures an impressive 57 cm wide and 200 cm long, making it a substantial, elegant accessory suitable for wrapping, draping, or wearing as a statement piece.

Materials: Yarn and Needles

The pattern is written specifically for Rowan Kidsilk Haze, a luxurious lace-weight yarn renowned for its delicate halo, exceptional drape, and the beautiful way it enhances openwork lace patterns. The yarn is used in 5 x 25g balls, and the sample shown in the pattern photography is worked in Cream 634. Kidsilk Haze is a blend of kid mohair and silk, which gives the finished fabric a soft, gossamer quality that is particularly well suited to intricate lace shawls of this kind.

• Yarn: Rowan Kidsilk Haze, lace weight, 5 x 25g balls (photographed in Cream 634)
• Needles: 5mm knitting needles
• Notions: 2 stitch markers (Markierungsringe), a provisional cast-on using waste yarn

Tension and Gauge

The pattern specifies a blocked tension of 18 stitches and 26 rows to 10 x 10 cm, measured in pattern using 5mm needles. As is standard with lace knitting, the fabric is worked at a relatively open gauge to allow the yarn-over increases and decreases to open up fully when the piece is blocked. Blocking — or in this case steaming (gedämpft) — is an essential finishing step that transforms the knitted fabric, opening the lace motifs and evening out the stitches to achieve the stated finished dimensions.

Construction and Structure

The Anice Shawl is constructed as a long rectangular shawl with a clearly defined structure consisting of three key sections:

• Lower Border (Untere Bordüre): The shawl begins with a provisional cast-on of 11 stitches using waste yarn and 5mm needles. After cutting the waste yarn and rejoining the main yarn, the border is worked in a lace pattern that increases to 12 stitches. Right-side rows are worked in the detailed lace border stitch, while all wrong-side rows are purled (worked plain). This creates the decorative edging that frames the lower end of the shawl.
• Border Panels (Bordürenmuster): Throughout the main body of the shawl, 12 stitches on each side are maintained in the border pattern (Bordürenmuster), creating consistent decorative selvedge edges that run the full length of the piece.
• Central Lace Panel (Strickschrift): The central section, comprising 75 stitches, is worked from a detailed stitch chart (Strickschrift). Two stitch markers are used to separate the central panel from the border stitches on either side, and the markers are slipped on every row to keep the sections clearly delineated.

Techniques Used

This is a technically demanding pattern that draws on a wide range of advanced lace knitting techniques. Knitters should be comfortable reading multi-row stitch charts and working precise decreases and yarn-over sequences. Key techniques include:

• Provisional cast-on using waste yarn, allowing the lower border to be worked and later finished or joined seamlessly
• Yarn-over increases (U / Umschlag) used extensively to create the characteristic open holes of lace fabric
• Right-leaning decreases: k2tog (2 M rechts zusammenstricken) — two stitches knitted together to the right
• Left-leaning twisted