Annabell Striped Shawl with Rib Borders in West Yorkshire Spinners - DBP0203 - Downloadable PDF

Annabell Striped Shawl with Rib Borders – Pattern Summary

About This Pattern

The Annabell Striped Shawl with Rib Borders is a knitted shawl design created by Dame Zandra Rhodes and compiled by Jenny Watson, with technical editing by Helen Birch and Jill Gray. It is part of the Zandra Rhodes – Make A Statement collection, a collaboration with West Yorkshire Spinners that brings Dame Zandra Rhodes's iconic sense of colour and bold, joyful aesthetics into the world of hand knitting. This pattern is available as a downloadable PDF and is rated as an intermediate level project.

What Is Being Made

The finished project is a striped shawl featuring decorative rib borders. Shawls of this style are versatile accessories that can be worn draped over the shoulders, wrapped around the body, or styled as a statement piece. The striped construction gives the shawl a bold, graphic quality that reflects Dame Zandra Rhodes's celebrated love of colour and print-inspired design. The rib borders add a neat, structured finish that frames the striped body of the shawl and helps the edges lie flat.

Design Inspiration

Dame Zandra Rhodes herself has expressed the intention behind this collection with characteristic warmth and enthusiasm. As she notes: "There really is something for everyone in this collection. I want those who knit my garments to feel happy and excited." The Annabell shawl embodies this spirit through its use of vibrant, carefully curated colourways drawn directly from the West Yorkshire Spinners yarn palette developed in collaboration with Dame Zandra Rhodes.

Techniques Used

• Stripe knitting – working with multiple colours in sequence to create horizontal or diagonal bands of colour across the shawl fabric
• Ribbing – a classic knitting technique used to form the borders, typically worked by alternating knit and purl stitches to create a stretchy, textured edge
• Colour management – carrying or joining yarns at stripe intervals, which is a key intermediate skill required for this project
• Shawl construction – shaping and building a shawl fabric, which may involve increases or a specific cast-on and cast-off method suited to the design

Stitches Used

• Knit stitch – the foundational stitch forming the main body of the shawl
• Purl stitch – used in combination with knit stitches to create the rib border pattern
• Rib stitch pattern – alternating knit and purl stitches worked in columns to produce the characteristic stretchy, ridged border texture

Materials – Yarn

This pattern is designed to be knitted in West Yorkshire Spinners yarn, with the pattern referencing both the 1X DK weight and the Signature 4 Ply weight options. The DK weight version is the primary format listed in the product attributes. The pattern features a stunning range of colourways developed exclusively as part of the Zandra Rhodes – Make A Statement collection, including:

• Zandra's Sunset
• Botanical Forest
• Bluebell Woodland
• Rainbow Bouquet
• Bloom Stripes
• Mist Awakening

Each of these colourways has been designed to reflect Dame Zandra Rhodes's signature aesthetic – rich, painterly, and full of life. The striped construction of the Annabell shawl makes it an ideal vehicle for showcasing two or more of these complementary shades together.

Materials – Needles

As a DK weight knitting pattern, the Annabell Striped Shawl would typically be worked on knitting needles appropriate for DK yarn, commonly in the range of 4mm, though knitters should always check their tension swatch against the pattern's stated gauge to