Patternum Novum :: Pennae Shawl

When the gals at Anzula Luxury Fibers contacted me earlier this spring and asked if I'd be interested in creating something with their brand new yarn, Silken, I obviously jumped at the chance (duh). I have fallen in love with everything that has ever come out of the Anzula warehouse -- and that makes my job as a designer super easy! Pretty yarn? Pretty knits. Anyway, they debuted this new yarn at TNNA last week -- it's a lovely, fingering weight blend of superwash merino and tussah silk and something about it just picks up color beauuuuutifully. (Note: if you look up Silken on Ravelry, you'll see a listing for a discontinued yarn. The new Silken is similar to the old Silken, but they've reworked it a bit, and you should be able to get it at your closest Anzula supplier very soon.) So my new design, Pennae, practically designed itself.

Pennae - $5 via Ravelry (no account required)


Pennae (Latin for feathers) starts out with just one stitch and grows into an asymmetrical triangle composed of a block of solid garter stitch, a wavy section of alternating garter stitch and lacey stripes, and finally a thick plume of a simple-but-striking lace pattern interspersed with more little stripes. A subtle picot bind off finishes off the whole piece. I made one Pennae with two colors (seen below in the green and lavender version), and one Pennae with three (the pastel-y one). The two-color version dips into a second skein of the main color a bit (the three-color version requires just one skein of each color), but I've included instructions in the pattern on making a slightly smaller version with just one skein each of the main and contrast colors.

The specs...

Finished measurements: 63”/ 160 cm wingspan; 30”/ 76 cm height

Yarn: 690 yds/ 630 m of fingering weight yarn: 400 yds/ 366 m of MC and 260 yds/ 238 m of CC1 for 2-color version OR 375 yds/ 343 m of MC, 260 yds/ 238 m of CC1, and 25 yds/ 23 m of CC2 for 3-color version
Shown in Anzula Luxury Fibers Silken (50% Superwash Merino, 50% Tussah Silk); 375 yds/ 343 m per 110 g); 2 skeins of Peacock (MC) and 1 skein of Irene (CC1) for 2-color version, and 1 skein each of Nimbus (MC), Seaside (CC1), and Irene (CC2) for 3-color version

Needles: US 6 (4 mm) circular needle, at least 24”/ 60 cm long, or size needed to obtain gauge

Gauge: 22 sts & 26 rows = 4”/ 10 cm in Garter Stitch after blocking
21 sts & 26 rows = 4”/ 10 cm in Lace pattern after blocking
Meeting these exact gauges is not crucial, but any major differences will affect the size of the finished shawl.

For more information on Pennae, you can check it out on Ravelry here.  And if you'd like to knit along with others and/or share photos, come join the Pennae discussion in my Ravelry group, The Yarniad's Symposium.