1237 Katmai - Shawl Knitting Pattern for Women in Valley Yarns Whately

Pattern #1237 Katmai – Lace Shawl Knitting Pattern by Julie Turjoman for Valley Yarns

The Katmai is an elegant, elongated lace wrap designed by Julie Turjoman and published by Valley Yarns as pattern #1237. Worked flat in a single seamless piece, this wrap is an ideal project for intermediate knitters looking to explore allover lace construction in a lightweight, wearable format. Whether draped over the shoulders on a cool summer evening or worn as a cosy layer through the colder months, the Katmai is a versatile, year-round accessory.

What Is Being Made

This pattern produces a rectangular lace wrap or shawl with finished measurements of 15 inches wide by 74 inches long. The generous length allows it to be worn in multiple ways — wrapped around the shoulders, looped loosely around the neck, or draped as a scarf. The pattern is written in one size, making it straightforward to cast on and begin without size adjustments.

Construction and Techniques

The Katmai is worked entirely flat in rows, from one short end to the other, in a single continuous piece with no seaming required. This seamless, worked-flat construction keeps the project clean and beginner-friendly in its finishing, even though the lace patterning itself places it firmly in the intermediate difficulty range.

The wrap is divided into three distinct sections that together create a subtly varied fabric density:

• Section 1 (Border, approximately 12 inches): The full 24-row lace pattern repeat is worked, establishing the open, airy character of the border. Locking stitch markers are used to track the 12-stitch pattern repeat across the row.
• Section 2 (Center, approximately 51 inches): Only Rows 13–24 of the lace pattern are repeated throughout this section, creating a slightly denser fabric around the neck area where extra warmth and structure are most welcome.
• Section 3 (Second Border, completing the 74-inch length): The full 24-row lace repeat is reintroduced, mirroring the first border and giving the wrap a balanced, symmetrical appearance.

This thoughtful structural approach means the wrap is not simply a repetitive swatch — the deliberate shift in pattern density adds visual and tactile interest while also providing a practical function at the center of the piece.

Stitches and Lace Techniques

The primary stitch pattern is an allover 12-stitch lace repeat worked over a 24-row sequence. Lace knitting combines yarn overs with decreases to create decorative openwork holes arranged in a repeating motif. In this pattern, the key decrease used is the s2kp2 (slip 2 stitches together knitwise, knit 1, pass slipped stitches over), a centered double decrease that draws two stitches toward a central stitch, creating a neat, symmetrical point in the lace fabric. Locking stitch markers are attached to the s2kp2 stitches in Row 5 and moved up as the work progresses to help keep the pattern correctly aligned across all five repeats.

The cast-on method specified is the Long-Tail Cast-On, a popular technique that produces a firm, elastic, and tidy edge well suited to lace projects that will be blocked. After binding off, the piece is wet or steam blocked to the finished measurements — a critical finishing step in lace knitting that opens up the yarn overs, evens the fabric, and allows the full beauty of the lace motif to bloom.

Yarn and Materials

The pattern is designed specifically for Valley Yarns Whately, a worsted weight yarn with a distinctive chainette construction — a hollow, tube-like strand that traps air and gives the yarn exceptional loft and lightness relative to its weight. The fiber content is a luxurious blend of 68% Baby Alpaca and 32% Organic Pima Cotton, combining the soft warmth and drape of alpaca with the breathability and subtle sheen of fine cotton. Each ball contains 50g / 164 yards, and the pattern calls for 6 balls in the colorway Garnet (09), a rich, deep red that enhances the elegance of