Braidock

Braidock Shawl by Taiga Hilliard Designs

Project Overview

Braidock is a sideways-knit shawl that combines lace and slip stitch pattern work, making it an excellent choice for knitters seeking to expand their skills. The design is accessible to beginners while offering enough complexity to engage experienced knitters. This downloadable PDF pattern from independent designer Taiga Hilliard Designs provides detailed instructions for creating a finished shawl using sport-weight yarn.

What Is Being Made

The Braidock shawl is constructed by knitting sideways, a technique that creates the garment from one edge to the other rather than from top to bottom. This approach allows for interesting stitch pattern transitions and creates a unique drape and structure in the finished piece.

Knitting Techniques Used

• Sideways construction: The shawl is worked horizontally, building width as you progress through the pattern
• Lace sections: Openwork patterns created through yarn overs and decreases add visual interest and lightness
• Slip stitch patterning: Strategic slipped stitches create texture and visual definition
• Two-color knitting: The pattern incorporates a main color and contrast color, allowing for creative colorwork combinations
• Increases and decreases: Shaping is achieved through KFB (knit front and back) increases and K2tog decreases

Stitches and Stitch Techniques

• KFB (Knit Front and Back): An increase stitch that creates two stitches from one
• K2tog (Knit Two Together): A right-leaning decrease that combines two stitches into one
• SlpYB (Slip stitch with yarn in back): Used in lace sections for texture
• SlpYF (Slip stitch with yarn in front): Complements the slip stitch pattern on wrong-side rows
• Knit and purl stitches: Foundation stitches that create the base fabric

Materials Required

Yarn: Anzula Vera in sport weight, totaling 580 yards. The pattern calls for 330 yards in the main color (shown in blue) and 250 yards in a contrast color (shown in coral).

Needles: US size 9 (5.50 mm) needles are required for this project.

Gauge: 16 stitches over 4 inches in stockinette stitch. Achieving proper gauge is essential for the finished shawl to match the intended dimensions and drape.

Difficulty Level

This pattern is rated as intermediate difficulty. While the basic construction and fundamental stitches are accessible to newer knitters, the combination of lace sections, slip stitch patterns, and two-color work requires attention to detail and familiarity with pattern reading. The sideways construction adds an interesting dimension that rewards knitters willing to engage with a slightly more complex structure.