The Rib and Garter Prayer Shawl

This is an original design by Trish Carr/Silverskye Handworks and is copyrighted by her. You may use it to your heart's content, but, naturally, you may not claim it as your own nor submit it to any publication without my written permission.

Rib and Garter Prayer ShawlDescription
This is a rectangular wrap that is knit loosely, making it very soft and drapey. Gauge isn't important as long as the shawl is about 22 - 24 inches wide. Simply knit until shawl reaches 80 inches in length. An interesting visual texture is created by alternating a K3, P3 rib with garter stitch. To avoid cutting yarn and having many ends to weave into the shawl, unused yarn is carried at the side edge. The carried yarn is inconspicuous, especially since the "knit-3" edges curl inwards a little.

Materials
3 skeins Lion Brand Homespun, color of your choice
2 skeins Lion Brand Jiffy in a coordinating color
29-inch size 13 circular needle
Crochet hook, size G (for attaching fringe)

Stitch Patterns
Rib stitch:
Row 1: * K3, P3; repeat from * across, end K3
Row 2: *P3, K3; repeat from * across, end P3
Repeat rows 1 and 2 for pattern
Garter stitch:
Knit all stitches in row
Repeat this row for pattern

Techniques
Carrying unused yarn at side edge (selvage)
When changing from one yarn to another, place the strand of the yarn you're changing from over the strand of the yarn you're going to knit for that row. When you knit the first stitch with the new yarn, it "catches" the old yarn and holds it in place. This way, there aren't large loops of yarn at the edges that can get caught on things.
Adding a new skein of the same yarn
When about 12 inches is left on the old skein, join with the new skein by working two stitches with yarns from both skeins together. Leave a tail of about 10 inches from the new skein. It's invisible in the finished shawl. The tails are simply woven into stitches on the wrong side (WS) of the shawl.
Fringe
Cut 114 lengths of yarn 16 inches long, half Homespun and half Jiffy

Instructions
1. Using Homespun, cast on 57 stitches
2. Work 4 rows of rib stitch. The right side (RS) is the side with the odd-numbered rows, with "K3" on each edge.
3. Attach Jiffy and work 2 rows of garter stitch.
4. Work 4 rows of rib pattern, carrying unused Jiffy at right edge every other row
5. Work 2 rows of garter stitch, carrying unused Homespun at right edge
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 for length of shawl, ending with step 4 (4 rows of rib stitch)
7. Cast off 57 stitches
8. Attach fringe: Fold a strand of 16-inch-long yarn in half. With WS facing, insert crochet hook under the 2 loops of the first cast-off stitch. Catch the fold in the fringe and pull it through so that the loop formed is about 2 inches long. Pull the two ends of the strand through the 2-inch loop. Tug the ends to tighten the loop. One fringe formed. Repeat until all 57 cast off stitches are fringed. Repeat this process for the other end of the shawl for the cast-on stitches.

© 2006 by Trish Carr. All rights reserved.


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