Patternum Novum: Lunaris Shawl

I was disappointed to see, when I logged in just now to write this post, that the last time I updated this blog was when I published Shadow & Glow back in mid-July. Awful!  I've written a number of posts in my head, but the little man allows me so little computer time these days (unless I want to spend the next hour watching digger videos on YouTube...) that they just haven't made it into Blogger. But we're slowly settling into a routine here (finally sans home renovations) and I hope that will change. And I hope to actually share some of the home renovations here, which I thought I'd be doing all along these past few months!

Anyway, what finally prompted me to bribe young Daniel with a popsicle and log in was that there is a new Yarniad pattern out there as of today. This is another shawl, another exploration of gradient striping, more simple Stockinette and Garter stitch, but this time in a crescent moon shape.

Lunaris - $5 via Ravelry (no account required)


Lunaris (Latin for lunar after the shawl's shape) is knit from the top down beginning with a Garter Tab cast on (for which I've provided a little photo tutorial) and is worked in Stockinette stripes all the way down to the Garter Stitch border. I knitted two samples to play with different types of stripes -- the above (in Anzula Squishy and Cloud) has very obviously distinct stripes, and the monochrome version...

in Shibui Knits Cima and Plucky Knitter Primo Fingering, uses two yarns with very similar colors but slightly different weights and textures. I think this small change in yarns makes for two very different looks. (And, I personally love them both!)

The nature of the increases used to shape the shawl and the way the fabric falls when the shawl is worn create the subtlest of ruffles along the edge, which I think makes this piece fun to wear as a scarf as well.

Here are the specs...

Size: 63”/ 160 cm along top edge, 84”/ 213.5 cm along bottom edge, 16.5“/ 42 cm height at center

Yarn: MC - 325 yds/297 m fingering weight yarn; shown in Anzula Squishy in Au Natural (contrast stripe version) and Shibui Knits Cima in Ultraviolet (monochrome version)
CC - 340 yds/352 m fingering weight yarn; shown in Anzula Cloud in Persimmon (contrast stripe version) and Plucky Knitter Primo Fingering in Fly the Concord (monochrome version)

Needles: US 6 (4mm) circular needle

Gauge: 19 sts & 32 rows = 4"/ 10 cm in Stockinette Stitch

For more information, photos, and ways to wear Lunaris, you can visit its page on Ravelry here.