Bevy Shawl

Bevy Shawl by Kate Oates

What Is Being Made

The Bevy Shawl is an unconventionally shaped knitted shawl designed for mild weather wear. Unlike traditional shawls, this design features an open center front construction that provides breathability and reduces bulk, making it ideal for layering in warmer seasons. The shawl is worked from the bottom up, creating a triangular silhouette through strategic decreasing techniques that eliminate the need to pick up stitches.

Construction and Design Approach

This shawl employs a distinctive bottom-up construction method where each row becomes progressively shorter and simpler as the knitter works toward the top. The triangular outline is achieved through decreases worked along a center spine and at each edge, creating a structured yet elegant shape. The pattern begins with a cloud edging worked first, followed by a ribbed section, with stripes separating two featured lace and texture panels throughout the design.

Knitting Techniques Used

• Decreasing: Central to the shawl's construction, decreases are worked along a center spine and at the edges to create the triangular shape without requiring picked-up stitches
• Yarn overs (YO): Used to create decorative openwork and lace effects throughout the pattern
• Slip stitch decreases: Multiple stitches are slipped and passed over a single stitch to create clean, structured decreases
• Ribbed knitting: A ribbed section provides structure and elasticity in the shawl's design
• Lace knitting: Both written and charted lace patterns are incorporated, allowing knitters to follow their preferred instruction format

Stitches and Stitch Patterns

• Knit (k): Basic stockinette stitch foundation
• Purl (p): Used in ribbed sections and texture panels
• Yarn over (YO): Creates openwork and lace elements
• Slip stitches: Used for decrease sequences, where multiple stitches are slipped over a single stitch
• Purl through back loop (p1TBL): Adds textural variation
• Ribbed stitching: Alternating knit and purl stitches create the ribbed sections
• Cloud edging: A decorative edge treatment worked at the beginning of the pattern
• Lace and texture panels: Two distinct lace and texture panels separated by stripes provide visual interest and pattern variation

Materials and Gauge Information

The Bevy Shawl pattern begins with a cast-on of 662 stitches using larger needles (referred to as size C in the pattern instructions), indicating this is a substantial project. The pattern is worked with yarn appropriate for the stitch definition required in both the lace and ribbed sections. The cast-on row is followed by strategic decreasing that reduces the stitch count significantly—the pattern shows a reduction to 409 stitches after the first decrease row, and further to 267 stitches by row 1, demonstrating the rapid shaping characteristic of this bottom-up construction.

Skill Level and Pattern Format

The Bevy Shawl is designed for advanced beginning to intermediate level knitters who are ready to track basic decreasing within changing stitch patterns. This difficulty rating reflects the pattern's requirement for knitters to manage decreases while simultaneously working lace and texture panels. The pattern provides both written instructions and charts for the lace sections, accommodating different learning preferences and allowing knitters to choose their preferred method of following the pattern.

Design Credit

The Bevy Shawl was designed by Kate Oates and is protected by copyright as of 2019. The pattern is intended for personal use only.