This pattern was an entry into the KDD “my place” design competition in 2020. My pattern was not selected but I had a lot of fun designing it and learnt a lot.
My place is the Isle of Islay, an island off the west coast of Scotland where my mother’s family originates. The coast here is littered with rocky coves where the Atlantic ocean, the golden sandy beaches, the rough grassy dunes and the great cliffs meet. When the wind and the sun hit these coves just right, the sand under the shallow water in the bay produces a beautiful vivid turquoise, which further out shifts abruptly to a deep purple as seaweed takes over from the sand beneath. As you move further out towards the horizon the sea fades to a soft grey and blends into the sky – on days such as this, the ocean seems endless as the sky takes over seamlessly.
My shawl is a representation of one of these coastal coves – the grassy banks covered with wild flowers, enclosing a sandy bay with all the colours of the sea fading out to the sky beyond.

I like garter stitch lace because it does not curl and both the right side and the wrong side are equally lovely. This is knitted on 4.5mm needles to make an open construction. Gauge is not critical but if you use a looser gauge you will need more yarn. My gauge is very approximately 19sts and 28 rows to 4 inches measured after blocking over wave chart.

This is a small shawl that can be used as a scarf when going on blowy walks by the seashore. The centre triangle is knitted first from a short cast-on with yarnover increases at the beginning of each row. This makes a nice loopy edge for picking up and knitting the border.
I knitted my scarf using KDD Milarrochy Tweed, 100 metres per 25g ball. The finished article weighs 73g and uses about half a ball each of Ardnamurchan, Lochan and Tarbet, smaller amounts of Smirr, Birkin, Hirst, Garth and Stockiemuir, and scraps of Gloamin, Ardlui, Cowslip, and the discontinued colours Buckthorn and Campion. For Buckthorn you can substitute Asphodel and for Campion use either Foxglove or Cranachan, or anything else you happen to have. The idea is that there are little splashes of floral colour in a varied green background to give the impression of a wildflower meadow.