Wilshire Shawl/ Pattern

Price: $6.00
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We can now offer this pattern as either a downloadable PDF version or as a hard copy printed out and mailed to you -- your choice. The printed copy is more expensive as it is set to allow for printing costs and shipping fees. 

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A beautiful shawl pattern from by Dee O'Keefe, with that marvelous play-with-lines that is a hallmark of Art Deco.

I love it!

Here is how Dee describes it:

Wilshire is a contemporary lace top-down triangular shawl inspired by the classic Art Deco architecture of Los Angeles, particularly on Wilshire Boulevard, that captivated me when I lived there a few years ago. The bold geometric forms of chevrons, diamonds and zig zags which are characteristic of Art Deco design have been incorporated into the wide border of the shawl, with diamond bands breaking up the stockinette sections of the shawl body.

Wilshire is offered as a chart-only pattern with large, easy-to-read charts and very detailed instructions on how to use them. Even knitters who have not previously used charts should find these user-friendly and simple to comprehend.


Now Dee mentions that Wilshire would look lovely knitted in either lace or fingering weight yarn. The yarn used in the pictures was a very heavy weight lace yarn (though a standard or light lace weight can be used with minimal changes). Dee also recommends a solid, tonal or subtly variegated yarn to showcase the intricacy of the border design.

Dee writes: "The yarn used in the pictures was a very heavy weight lace yarn. If a standard or extra fine lace yarn is used, I recommend a smaller needer to maintain an opaqueness in the stockinette section of the design. Use of fingering weight yarn will increase the size of the shawl, so a US 5 needle is recommended unless you are looking to knit a large blanket! If you are a loose knitter, you may wish to adjust the needle sizes accordingly."

Good data.

And just so that you know: Wilshire starts at the center back of the neck and is knit down to the bottom edge. There is a three-stitch garter border on each side, four yarn-over increases on each right-side row and two center stitches separating each half. Patterning is done on the right side rows only, with all wrong side rows being purled between the garter borders

The blocked size of the one shown, made with 850 yards of heavy lace weight turned out to be 76” x 38” -- and it was knit on US #4 (3.5mm) needles. Test knitters used an average of about 800 yards of regular lace weight yarn and their shawls were a bit smaller at about 72” x 36”. And, as Dee mentions above, fingering weight is another option.

So free free to select what appeals to you yarn-wise and create this lovely creation. There are so many marvelous options! This is a stunning piece. I love the way the lines play with each other.

 

Really lovely.

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