Aurorae Shawl

Description

Aurorae are the spellbinding flames of light that gather in the sky at both ends of the earth. In the far north, in Finland, it’s said that the Aurora Borealis, the Northern Lights, occur when a great arctic fox brushes sparks from the mountain tops with his huge fluffy tail. On the other side of planet, the Aboriginal Australians believed that the Aurora Australis, or Southern Lights, were fires from the spirit world: the raging bushfires of sky spirits or the glow of their ancestors’ campfires.

I love the idea that people from different places can look at one phenomenon and interpret it so differently and creatively. In a much smaller way we can see this same magic happening in something as simple as a knitting pattern, when the gifted imaginations and hands of knitters from every corner of the world create their own versions of a beautiful object.

The Aurorae Shawl gathers up the strands of that sense of wonder, with rippling shifts of colour and flickering eyelet lace. Aurorae Shawl was designed using a six colour gradient set, with both sport weight and fingering weight versions. If you’re knitting from stash, this is a wonderful way to use up leftovers from other projects: just pick six colours that blend or play well together. This asymmetrical shawl features garter, eyelet and slip stitches: it looks intricate and complicated, but in fact it’s a gentle, easy knit. An i-cord edge gives Aurorae a lovely, polished finish.

This pattern is written in the Curious Handmade Percentage Checklist style™

Charts are not included in this pattern

Finished Measurements
Medium
142cm (56”) across wingspan i-cord edge
109cm (43”) across picot bind off edge
Large
157cm (62”) across wingspan i-cord edge
122cm (48”) across picot bind off edge

Yarn
Medium
The Copper Corgi Gradient Mini Skein Set 100% Superwash Merino, 330m/360yds per approx. 113g set
of 6 minis; approx. 55m/60yds per mini skein, 2 sets
Colourway: Peacock

Sample used approximately
12 mini skeins (6 different colours) x 45m/50yds each, totaling 540m/600yds in sport weight yarn

Large
Seven Sisters Arts Meridian Gradient Set 75% Superwash Merino, 25% nylon, 823m/900yds per 200g set of 6 minis; 137m/150yds per 30g mini skein, 1 set
Colourway: Raven’s Wing

Sample used approximately
6 mini skeins x 114m/125 yds each per 25g, totaling 685m/750yds in fingering weight yarn

Needles
Medium
4.5mm (US 7), 100cm (40”) long circular needles (or size to obtain gauge)
Large
4mm (US 6), 100cm (40”) long circular needles (or size to obtain gauge)

Gauge
Medium
18 sts/30 rows = 10cm (4”) in garter stitch after blocking
Large
22 sts/42 rows = 10cm (4”) in garter stitch after blocking

Gauge is not critical for this shawl, but a different gauge might result in a different yardage required.