Wands Ready!

Wands Ready! Asymmetrical Lace Shawl by Jessica Anderson

What Is Being Made

Wands Ready! is an asymmetrical knitted shawl inspired by the Wizarding World and the character Newt Scamander. This downloadable knitting pattern creates a large triangular shawl featuring decorative lace wands as a central design element. The finished shawl measures approximately 95 inches across the wingspan and 26 inches from the center top to the point after washing and blocking, making it a substantial wrap suitable for layering or display.

Knitting Techniques Used

This shawl pattern employs several key knitting techniques to achieve its magical aesthetic. The design incorporates lace knitting, which creates openwork patterns through strategic yarn overs and decreases that form the decorative wand motifs throughout the piece. The asymmetrical construction requires understanding how to shape a triangular garment by increasing stitches strategically across rows. The pattern utilizes garter stitch as the primary fabric base, which provides a stable, textured foundation that contrasts beautifully with the delicate lace elements.

The shawl is designed to work with mini skeins, allowing knitters to incorporate multiple coordinating colors into a single project. This technique involves managing several yarn colors simultaneously while maintaining consistent tension and stitch definition. The piece is worked flat on circular needles, a common method for managing large stitch counts when creating expansive shawl designs.

Stitches Used

• Garter Stitch: The foundational stitch worked throughout, created by knitting every row to produce horizontal ridges and a reversible fabric
• Yarn Overs: Used to create the openwork lace pattern and decorative wand design elements
• Decreases: Paired with yarn overs to maintain stitch count while forming the lace motifs

Materials and Specifications

Yarn: The pattern calls for 1 Wands Ready kit from The Lemonade Shop, or alternatively Simple Sock yarn in the following composition: 80% Superwash Merino and 20% Nylon blend. The kit includes 400 yards of solid color main color yarn (MC) in one 100 gram skein, plus five coordinating 90-yard mini skeins in Teal (C1), Light Pink (C2), Green (C3), Purple (C4), and Hot Pink (C5). This yarn weight is classified as 4-ply, a fingering or sock weight that allows for detailed stitch definition in lace patterns.

Needles: US 6 (4 mm) circular needles measuring 32 inches in length, or an alternative method suitable for working a large number of stitches flat. Circular needles are recommended to accommodate the expanding stitch count as the asymmetrical shawl grows.

Gauge: 16 stitches and 32 rows equal 4 inches (10 centimeters) in garter stitch after washing and blocking. Achieving proper gauge is essential for obtaining the correct finished measurements and drape of the completed shawl.

Additional Notions: Stitch markers are required to track pattern repeats and shaping sections, and a measuring tape is necessary for monitoring progress and checking gauge.

Difficulty Level

This pattern is rated as beginner level, making it accessible to knitters new to shawl construction. While the design incorporates lace elements and color work with mini skeins, the straightforward garter stitch base and clear pattern structure provide an excellent introduction to asymmetrical shawl knitting without overwhelming complexity.