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This is a tutorial for the Weekend Shawl pattern by Anne Kuo Lukito. It’s a simple, elegant and easy-to-work shawl written for 2 yarn weights in 6 sizes
General
How is it constructed?
The pattern starts at the top. Increases are worked along the rays, widening the shawl.
I’ve never worked a project this big before and have never done lace. Do you think I can?
The way I learned to be a better knitter (and am still learning) is to find projects with skills that I was not familiar with or very experienced in. It makes learning more fun. The pattern is pretty straight-forward in the body. The body is divided into sections marked by stitch markers, so it makes it easy to see where you work increases. This also helps you keep track and make sure that you have the right stitch count in each section between the markers. The Saturday lace only requires shaping stitches (yo, decrease) on the RS rows. The Sunday lace requires a little more attention – you work shaping stitches on both RS and WS rows. However, the Sunday lace does not span a large number of rows. Putting lifelines in your knitting should also help you.
What is a lifeline?
It’s a piece of contrasting thread that will literally save your sanity when you knit. You thread a lifeline through the stitches in a row you know you’ve knitted correctly. This way, if you have a mistake that requires ripping out, you can rip back to that spot and the lifeline holds the stitches so you can just put them back on your needle and know exactly how far you ripped back.
For lifelines, I recommend unwaxed dental floss. Before moving on to a new row, I thread the dental floss on through the stitches on my needle with the help of a tapestry needle. I usually do this after a stitch repeat (after checking that I had worked everything correctly and had the right number of stitches.
For the Weekend Shawl, I recommend putting in a lifeline right before you start the Saturday lace and before you start the Sunday lace. If you are less experienced in reading your knitting and fixing mistakes, you might want to insert lifelines more frequently, including the aforementioned, when half of the body section has been worked, halfway through the Saturday lace, and in between each of the Sunday lace repeats.
I see that the shawl is worked in a background of St st. Will it curl when you wear it?
No. Blocking and working on a loose gauge prevents curling. I’ve worn it several times and it does not curl up after you wear it. Any curling while you knit disappears after blocking. If you don’t like St st, you can always work the body in garter stitch, though the vertical depth of your shawl will be more shallow than the finished measurements in the pattern.
I want to use yarn in my stash. Can I do it in a DK or worsted weight yarn?
You can do it, but you will end up with a very large shawl even if you work it in the smallest size. If that’s the effect you’re looking for, go for it and work it in 2-5 needle sizes larger than what the yarn recommends so you still get that lacy effect. If you don’t, you’ll lose the lace detail and your shawl will be more likely to curl (see previous question). If you are a loose knitter, try 2-3 sizes larger, if average, try 3-4, if tight, try 4-5. It’s always best to swatch and see if you like the way your yarn/needle combination gives you the results that you like. Trust me, it’s worth spending 30-60 minutes testing it out. You don’t want to spend countless hours knitting a shawl, only not to like the texture or drape of it at the end.
Technique
I’m not familiar with the increases you used in the pattern and am not sure I’m following the instructions correctly on working RLI and LLI. Can you help?
RLI and LLI are lifted increases. You may also see the abbreviation written differently in other patterns as well. For example, Knitting Help calls RLI as “KRL (knit right loop).” Whatever you call it, this is my preferred increase method for most projects because it creates the most invisible increase I know.
Working a RLI (Right Lifted Increase): Insert your RH needle into the stitch below as if to knit it (left photo). Then, simply create and pull a knit stitch through that loop (right). Your increase is made by knitting into the stitch below. Continue knitting normally and working your pattern as instructed.
The arrow in the photo below shows where the invisible increase occurs. (click on photos to enlarge.)
If you have additional questions about the pattern, please feel free to post.
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I’m stuck. Hoping you can help me. All is well until I get to the “sunday lace” section. My pass over two stitches don’t look like they did above and I not sure I’m doing the row 2 “yo pearlwise” correctly. Can you show me an example of that. I assume this is the opposite way I do a yarnover knitwise. It just doesn’t look right. The “smiles” of lace under the paralell columns of the vertical rows done aren’t the same as pictured. Am also having trouble making the “passover two stitches: to look like they did in the vertical rows above them. They have crossing lines instead of the straight “chain” looking straight line in the previous section. I am having trouble explaining myself. Hope you can understand. I’ve done lacework before…not great at it but have done a few pieces. I tHink these may be pretty basic questions: the YO pearlwise and woncering why the sl 2 passover stitches on both right and left sides no longer look right? Can you help if you can understand my poor explanation….Thx (reading through again…sl two stitiches pearlwise through the back loops leaves me wondering how that can be done?? …just that one section is throwing me…..
Maybe I can ask this more clearly. On row two of the Sunday Lace part of the pattern, what is the difference between the first YO (after K4) and the second YO that states “purlwise”. The description in the abbreviations section states “wrap counter clockwise from back to front instead of front to back”. This is the way I did the previous YO in the row. I don’t understand the difference. Thank you so much. I’m at a stand still and am so close to finishing this lovely shawl. Sherry
Like Sherry, I’m confused by the purlwise YO in the instructions. When I do this, it results in a smaller hole than the regular YO. Should I just do two regular YOs so that they match?
Sorry, sorry! After some additional attempts, I succeeded in doing the purlwise YOs correctly, and I see that they make perfect sense. I remind myself that those “backwards” YOs are done by bringing the yarn back, to the right, left, and back again around the needle I’m wrapping (clockwise, rather than counterclockwise.) I love the Sunday Lace portion. Almost finished!
I’ve just started and I’m sure it’s a simple answer; however, I’m stuck. I’m working the Weekend Shawl, I’ve CO the 33 sts and at the end of set up row 2 I’m only able to repeat 4 times not 5. Can you tell me what I’ve done wrong? Thanks for your help!
Regina,
It’s hard to say without having seen your project. Perhaps check to see that you’ve done the pattern repeat section correctly? Or that you are reading the correct set of instructions for the size you are making?
Weekend shawl – I am making a medium, fingerling, on size 7 needles. I have just finished the 12th repeat of the Saturday lace. I think I would like the finished shawl to be longer that it seems it will be.
Question: If I extend the Saturday lace, will it effect the overall proportions of the finished shawl in a negative way?
I don’t think so. Many people have made various adjustments, such as extending the Saturday lace and/or working in a few more repeats of Sunday lace. A few folks have also added beading.
I’m having the same problem as Regina. The instructions–to start–state to CO 33 stitches, purl first set up row, and at the end of the 2nd set up row, should have 43 stitches after increasing [] 5x. I also can only do it 4x. I even sketeched it out on paper and it does not come out to 5 increases and 43 sts. So, what is going wrong and how can this be corrected? Thanks.
Karen, I’m not sure what you are doing, but the math does work out right, and your knitting should work out as well.
The CO is 33 sts. You start working increases in Set up Row 2.
Set up Row 2 (RS): Sl1, k1, pm, [RLI, k5, LLI, k1, pm] 5 times, k1–43 stitches.
Math: 1 + 1 + (8 x 5) + 1 = 43 sts.
And if you do the math for Set-up Row 2 without the increases, it still works out to the original 33 sts: 1 + 1 + (6 x 5) + 1 = 33
This is my first “lacy shawl” and I am confused. What I see in the picture is that the first part is in ST st followed by the Saturday lace then the Sunday lace. I see no part or instructions for the ST st. What am I missing??? Thank you
Hi Lynn,
The patterning to Stockinette stitch, in back and forth knitting, occurs when you knit one row and purl the return row. (In circular knitting, it’s knitting every round.)
In the case of “Weekend Shawl,” the instructions for the patterning are in the first paragraph of the pattern instructions, which start on page 2.
Row 1 (WS) is worked in purl, whereas Row 2 (RS) is worked in knit and it’s also where the shaping takes place. Thus, if you repeat Rows 1 and 2, you will get a St st pattern.
Thanks for knitting my pattern and good luck!