The City Shawl in Rowan Alpaca Classic (Eng) - Downloadable PDF

The City Shawl by Georgia Farrell – Rowan Alpaca Classic Knitting Pattern (Downloadable PDF)

The City Shawl is a stunning, large-format hand-knitted shawl designed by Georgia Farrell and published by Rowan in 2020. Available as a downloadable PDF (pattern code ZB278-00006-ENP), this pattern is rated advanced in skill level and offers knitters a sophisticated, textured accessory that showcases beautiful stitch patterning across a generous, wearable silhouette.

What Is Being Made

The finished piece is a large triangular shawl, approximately 182 cm (71½ inches) across the long edge and 83 cm (32¾ inches) deep at the widest point. This makes it a truly substantial wrap — ideal as an elegant layering piece. The shawl is worked from the top centre point downward, growing outward through consistent paired increases on either side of a central marker and along the garter stitch border edges.

The pattern offers two distinct colourway options: a Four Colour version and a Two Colour version, each creating a different visual effect while using the same fundamental construction and stitch architecture.

Colourway Options and Yarn Requirements

Both versions are knitted in Rowan Alpaca Classic, a DK weight yarn, using 25 g balls. The specific shades and quantities differ between the two versions:

• Four Colour Version:
  • Yarn A – Willow 112: 1 x 25 g ball
  • Yarn B – Feather Grey Melange 101: 2 x 25 g balls
  • Yarn C – Hyacinth 129: 3 x 25 g balls
  • Yarn D – Green Moss 111: 3 x 25 g balls
• Two Colour Version:
  • Yarn A – Deep Teal 109: 4 x 25 g balls
  • Yarn B – Ice Blue 131: 6 x 25 g balls

The graduated yarn quantities in the Four Colour version reflect how each colour is introduced progressively as the shawl grows wider, with later colours covering more rows and therefore requiring more yarn. The Two Colour version uses a bolder contrast between its two shades, with the dominant colour — Ice Blue 131 — requiring the most yardage.

Needles and Tension

The shawl is worked on a 3¾mm (UK No. 9 / US 5) circular needle, at least 100 cm long. The circular needle is essential here not because the shawl is worked in the round, but because the large stitch count — which grows considerably as the shawl expands — requires the length of a circular cable to accommodate all stitches comfortably. This is a standard technique for large flat knitted pieces.

The recommended tension is 23 stitches and 46 rows to 10 cm measured over garter stitch using 3¾mm needles. The pattern notes that tension will vary across the four different stitch sections used throughout the shawl, which is an important consideration for advanced knitters when blocking and finishing the piece.

Construction Technique

The shawl begins with a simple 3-stitch cast-on at the top centre point. The very first rows establish the triangular shape using Kfb (knit front and back) increases, quickly building to a working stitch count. A stitch marker is placed at the centre of the shawl to divide the two halves, and from this point forward, all shaping is achieved through consistent M1R (make one right) and M1L (make one left) increases placed symmetrically: two increases on the left half and two on the right half of every right-side row, giving a total of four stitches added per right-side row.

This paired increase method creates the clean, mirrored lines that radiate outward from the centre top of the shawl — a hallmark of well-constructed