“I had all my girls to comfort me”
— Marmee, in Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women

Little Women is, above all, a story about the love at the heart of a family. Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy, along with their mother Marmee, are brought to life in the patterns of this sampler shawl: the body contains one stitch pattern inspired by each of the girls, and the simple but elegant applied edging represents Marmee’s loving presence surrounding them all.

Though the stitch patterns may look complicated, none of them is difficult to knit, with both written and charted directions included. As befits each of the girls, some patterns feature lacy eyelets and others have bolder texture. This shawl is well within the skill range of an adventurous beginner; the frequent changes in stitch pattern will encourage any knitter to keep going.

Kits in special Little Women—inspired colorways are sometimes available from Little Skein.

Construction: All My Girls is an elongated triangle, knit from the top down and beginning with a garter tab start. To finish the shawl, an applied lace edging in a contrasting color is worked perpendicularly to the main body of the shawl.

Size: 74 inches wingspan and 25 inches at the deepest point of the triangle

Yardage required: 800 yds MC (body), 250 yds CC (edging)

Skills needed: To knit this shawl, you will need to be able to:

• knit and purl
• increase and decrease stitches
• cable stitches
• read a chart or follow written directions

This pattern contains both written and charted instructions, and it has been tech-edited.