Sisley

Sisley Shawl by Mindy Wilkes

What is Being Made

Sisley is an advanced knitted crescent shawl designed by independent designer Mindy Wilkes. This downloadable PDF pattern creates a delicate, feminine accessory measuring 52 inches (132 cm) wide by 6.5 inches (16.5 cm) deep. The shawl features decorative picots on both the top and bottom edges, combined with lace detailing to create an elegant finished piece.

Construction Method and Shaping

The Sisley shawl is worked from the bottom up, allowing knitters to easily adjust the finished size by adding or removing rows as desired. The distinctive crescent shape is achieved through the strategic use of short rows, a shaping technique that creates curves without increasing or decreasing stitches in the traditional manner. This method allows the shawl to drape beautifully while maintaining structural integrity.

Stitch Patterns and Techniques

This advanced pattern incorporates multiple stitch techniques to create visual interest and texture:

• Garter stitch forms the main body of the shawl, providing a classic, reversible fabric with horizontal ridges
• Modified Estonian lace pattern creates the delicate lace edge, a technique that combines yarn overs and decreases to form openwork designs characteristic of traditional Estonian lace shawls
• Picots are incorporated along both the top and bottom edges, creating small decorative loops that add a refined, feminine finishing detail

The combination of garter stitch with lace and picots demonstrates intermediate-to-advanced knitting skills, requiring familiarity with lace chart reading, yarn overs, decreases, and short-row shaping.

Materials and Gauge

The Sisley pattern requires 400 yards (366 meters) of fingering weight yarn. The sample shown in the pattern is worked in Baah! La Jolla, a 100% merino yarn available in 400-yard (366-meter) skeins per 100 grams, displayed in the Candy Pink colorway.

The recommended gauge is 28 stitches and 32 rows per 4 inches (10 cm) when worked in garter stitch on a smaller needle after blocking. While exact gauge is noted as not crucial for shawl fit, variations in gauge will affect the final shawl dimensions and the total yardage required to complete the project.

Needles and Notions

This pattern calls for circular needles in two sizes:

• US 5 (3.75 mm) circular needles, 40 inches or longer, for the main body
• US 6 (4 mm) circular needles, 40 inches or longer (or one size larger than the primary needles), likely used for bind-off or edge work

Additional notions required include a yarn needle for weaving in ends. The 40-inch circular needle length accommodates the 52-inch finished width comfortably during knitting.

Blocking and Finishing

The gauge measurement is taken after blocking, indicating that blocking is an essential step in finishing the Sisley shawl. Blocking helps even out the garter stitch texture, opens up the lace pattern, and sets the picot details for a polished final appearance.