The Catharina Lace Faroese-Shaped Shawl uses the shoulder-shaping and back center panel characteristic of shawls of the Faroe Islands. Unlike the typical Faroese shawl, these shawls begin at the neckline with just seven stitches. After knitting the seed stitch neckband, stitches are picked up and the shawl is worked in one piece consisting of three main sections– the left front, the back panel and the right front. The seed stitch neckband continues down each front as the seed stitch front borders.

The size of the finished shawl is entirely knitter’s choice and is limited only by the amount of yarn one has. Although a full-sized shawl is pictured, this design makes a great shoulder shawl, using much less yarn. The shawl may be finished with a beautiful lace border or with a simple seed stitch border.

The Catharina lace pattern motif is my adaptation of Barbara Walker’s Smiling Diamonds lace pattern motif. Although on first blush it looks like a complicated 36-row pattern, because of its diagonal decreases and
yarnovers and the increases of the side sections, it is a fairly easy 18-row pattern motif. What you produce looks just like the chart, making it easy for you to read your lace knitting.

GAUGE
18 st × 36 row lace motif = approx. 4½–5½ in (11.5–
14 cm) inches tall by 2¾–3½ in (7–9 cm) wide, blocked.

Because of the fluidity of the fabric formed when knitting lace, especially when knitting a lace Faroese-shaped shawl, the number of stitches and rows per inch varies greatly in the finished shawl. When knitting a lace Faroese-shaped shawl from the top down, what is important is that you are pleased with the look and feel of the fabric you produce, and that you have sufficient yarn to make a shawl in the size you desire.