Alma Lou

Alma Lou Shawl by Shannon Squire

What is Being Made

Alma Lou is a knitted shawl designed by Shannon Squire and inspired by the designer's mother. This intermediate-level knitting project combines simple construction with decorative interest, making it suitable for knitters with some experience who want to create a garment with both elegance and rustic charm. The shawl features a garter stitch background enhanced with eyelet details that add visual appeal without overwhelming the overall design.

Design Inspiration and Construction

The Alma Lou shawl was originally created as a birthday gift, designed to balance simplicity with subtle decorative elements. The designer chose eyelets as the primary embellishment technique, as these openwork details create an almost rustic quality when worked against a garter stitch foundation. This combination of techniques results in a shawl that is straightforward enough to keep knitters engaged throughout the project while remaining interesting enough to maintain momentum from cast-on to bind-off.

Knitting Techniques and Stitches

The primary stitch used in this project is garter stitch, which forms the foundational fabric of the shawl. Garter stitch is created by knitting every row, producing a reversible, textured fabric with horizontal ridges. This stitch is ideal for shawls as it lies flat and provides excellent drape.

Eyelets are the key decorative element incorporated into the garter stitch background. Eyelets are small openwork holes created through yarn overs and decreases, allowing light to pass through the fabric and creating delicate visual interest. When placed strategically on a garter stitch base, eyelets take on a rustic, organic quality that complements the simplicity of the overall design.

The shawl also features an Applied I-Cord edge finish. An I-cord is a narrow, tubular knitted cord created by casting on 2 stitches and working a series of knit stitches with a cable cast-on technique. The construction method involves knitting into the first stitch through the back loop (k1-tbl), knitting two stitches together through the back loop (k2tog-tbl), then slipping both stitches back to the left-hand needle. This sequence is repeated until only 2 stitches remain, which are then bound off. This applied I-cord creates a finished, polished edge that frames the shawl beautifully.

Materials

Yarn: The Alma Lou shawl requires approximately 350 to 400 yards of fingering-weight yarn. The designer used Blue Moon Fiber Arts Yaksi Fingering in the colorway True Blood Red for the version shown, though the pattern is adaptable to other fingering-weight yarns in preferred colors.

Needles: US 4 (3.5mm) needles or the size required to obtain the correct gauge for the chosen yarn.

Skill Level

This pattern is rated as intermediate difficulty, making it appropriate for knitters who have mastered basic stitches and are ready to work with eyelets and applied finishes. The straightforward garter stitch base combined with eyelet placement and I-cord edging provides a balanced challenge that develops skills without requiring advanced techniques.

Pattern © Shannon Squire Designs, 2017. All rights reserved. This pattern is for personal use only and may not be copied, distributed, or used for commercial purposes.