Maryam Shawl

The design inspiration behind this collection of patterns came from my Aunt Maryam, who sadly passed away a few years ago due to complications associated with Early Onset Alzheimer’s. Growing up I always knew of her as the knitter in my Mum’s family, even though many of my other Aunts also knit I have more hand knits from my Aunt Maryam than the rest put together. So I always associated her with knitting. The other thing I associate with her are braids, she was the person who taught me how to do French braids when I was 8 years old and so every time I do a braid in my hair I find myself thinking of her. Ever since I started knitting and designing patterns I’d had this idea in my mind to design a collection of patterns incorporating braided cables in memory of my Aunt Maryam, and so here they are.

What you will need:

• Yarn: 200g (800m/875yrds) of Fingering weight yarn. You will need 100g (400m/437yrds) of each colour, or 2 skeins the same colour if you want to do a single colour shawl. Yarns used in the Sample shown is Yarns By Rhichard Devrieze in the Peppino Base (approx. 65g – 206m/225yrds), 2 skeins of each in the When I Think Of You (Main Body) and the Not So Mellow (Border) colourways.

• Needles – 4mm (US 6) on Long Cable to accommodate all the stitches at the end. I suggest a 40” (100cm) length.

• Notions – 8 Stitch Markers to mark the increases and I suggest a few removable stitch markers to help mark out the repeats for the border. You will also need a cable needle for the applied edging.

• Gauge – The gauge I got on the sample shawl was approx. 20sts/ 4inches after aggressive blocking (gauge pre blocking was 23.5sts/4 inches), measured over Garter stitch. Please note that if your gauge is slightly off then the number of repeats you can do in the main body and overall size of the shawl may be different than that shown in the pattern.

Finished Size of Shawl:

Approx. 175cm (69 inches) on the longest edge & 50cm (20 inches) deep.

Please note finished size will vary depending on gauge, how many pattern repeats you knit of the main body, and how extensively the shawl is blocked. The shawl is knit with four wedges so can look very angular and almost like a square when finished, but with blocking this can be given a more circular/curved shape along the border edge making it easier to wear over the shoulders.