About Shepherd’s Purse

I’ve always loved the wild flower Shepherd’s Purse. Something about it sparked my imagination, miniature Shepherdesses with teeny leaf handbags I think. When I first saw this beautiful rustice laceweight yarn I knew I wanted to create a lace that complimented the wild rustic nature of it. The result of these experiments is an easy to memorise lace that quickly grows to become a tee/light sweater that will look as good over a shift dress as it does with jeans.

There is a definite trick to crocheting with a laceweight yarn. Choose a pattern that’s carefully written for it, one that’s going to grow quickly and not involve finding fiddly stitches. This pattern has just two rows to remember, works into chain spaces and uses trebles so it grows pretty quickly. The suggested yarn, kindly supplied by Daughter of a Shepherd, is just the right kind of crunchy to make it fast and easy to work too. It softens beautifully on washing.

And because we know you won’t all want to get your bellies out, it is available in both cropped and hip length version. Instructions and yarn requirements are given for both.
Materials
Cropped version:
2(2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3) 100g skeins Daughter of a Shepherd Seventy-Two (lace weight, 100% Hebridean Wool, 606m/663yds/100g)
(Estimated yardage required: 825(965, 1080, 1235, 1250, 1425, 1565, 1725, 1735))
3.5mm (US E) hook

Full length version:
2(2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3) 100g skeins Daughter of a Shepherd Seventy-Two (lace weight, 100% Hebridean Wool, 606m/663yds/100g)
(Estimated yardage required: 940(1095, 1255, 1435, 1475, 1675, 1875, 2060, 2105))
3.5mm (US E) hook.

Tension
3 pattern reps and 10 rows in Shepherd’s Purse lace pattern (blocked) to 10 cm/4 in using 3.5mm hook (or size needed to achieve tension)

Difficulty Rating
Easy

Skills Needed
Basic crochet stitches, working in rows, missing stitches, working into chain spaces, seaming.

Construction
Sleeves are worked first to avoid swatching! The back is worked from the top down and the front is worked from the foundation chain of the back (with full row neckline shaping) down. Sleeves are slip stitched to the body. Sleeves and side seams are slip stitched closed.

Sizes
XS(S, M, L, 1X, 2X, 3X, 4X, 5X)
To fit bust approx: 76(86, 97, 107, 117, 127, 137, 147, 157)cm/30(34, 38, 42, 46, 50, 54, 58, 62)in
Finished bust: 87(100, 113, 127, 127, 140, 153, 167, 167)cm/34.5(40, 45.5, 50.5, 50.5, 56, 61.5, 66.5, 66.5)
Finished upper arm circumference:30(30, 30, 37, 40, 47, 50, 53, 57)cm/12(12, 12, 14.5, 16, 18.5, 20, 21.5, 22.5)in
Finished length:
Cropped version: 47(48, 48, 50, 50, 51, 51, 52, 52)cm/18.5(19, 19, 19.5, 19.5, 20, 20, 20.5, 20.5)
Full length version: 55(56, 57, 58, 60, 61, 62, 64, 65)/21.5(22, 22.5, 23, 23.5, 24, 24.5, 25, 25.5)

Designed to be worn with lots of ease (between 10cm/4in and 15cm/6in) at the bust. The sleeves are designed to be fitted (around 3cm/1in ease) but if you prefer a looser sleeve or find your bust size doesn’t correlate to your upper arm measurement then you can make a sleeve of a different size.

Joanne has 100cm/39in bust and wears a size M cropped version.