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Make some trails with your stitches and watch the colours of your yarn blaze brightly with this one-skein shawl.

Trail and Blaze is designed to make the most of your colourful yarn with stretches of smooth stockinette and paths of simple lace yarnovers.

As you work your shawl, parallel tracks of lace emerge and border a path that zig-zags its way to the edge. Once you near the end of your shawl, the lace and stockinette become straight paths to decorate the edges of your shawl. A reminder that, even though a journey might take you in different directions, ultimately, you’ll always find a path to your home straight!

So trailblaze a path with your knitting and make your own tracks with this fun project!

If you are new to knitting lace, this shawl would be the perfect opportunity to give it a try. Using just yarnover and k2tog stitches to create the lace, each section is worked between markers so you can easily keep count of your stitches. A video tutorial on how to work the yo, k2tog stitch combination can be found here https://www.undertheolivetreeknits.com/lace-stitches.html

You can watch a video of the Trail and Blaze Shawl being knitted up, from casting on to blocking: https://youtu.be/VoqQ_Zh73tQ

Stitches Used – Sl1 wyif, knit, purl, kfb, yo, k2tog, ‘yo, k2tog’ lace stitches

Sizes – One size

Measurements – The finished, blocked item has a wingspan of 73” (185cm) and a depth of 20” (51cm)

Materials

• 437-464yd / 400-425m, 3.5 oz / 100g 4 ply, sock or fingering weight yarn. The yarn used in the pattern pictures is:
o Under the Olive Tree Knits Chora sock yarn, 75% merino / 25% nylon in the Summerdaze colourway
• US size 5 (3.75mm) 32” (80cm) circular needle
• 4 stitch markers
• 1 tapestry needle for weaving in the ends

Gauge: 22 stitches and 33 rows to 4” (10cm) in stockinette stitch after blocking

The pattern has been tech edited and test knitted prior to publication. Here’s what the test knitters had to say:

“Jem always creates unique patterns- often for the one “special” skein that we all have. Her patterns are always thoughtfully prepared, well tested and offer most level knitters a great experience and a lovely finished item” – Sharon

“The Row counter chart is a godsend. A gorgeous design that looks far more complicated than it looks. I can certainly see me knitting more of these as they show off single skeins so well” – Catriona

“I’ve really enjoyed testing the pattern, it’s easy and quick but ends up beautiful. I’ve finished it with an icord bind off and it looks stunning” – Aurelie

“Jem eases a complete beginner into simple lacework with this well written row by row pattern. No guesswork needed! The addition of a tick box checklist ensures you can keep track of exactly where you are. For the more seasoned knitter, this is perfect TV knitting as the pattern is very intuitive once you get into the rhythm. Simply super!” – Angela

“Jem’s patterns are tried, tested, clear and easy to follow. They always include links to tutorials so you have somewhere to check if you’re unsure together with the abbreviations set out at the beginning and a really handy chart at the end showing how many stitches you should have each row so you can check it and
each pattern is designed to keep you interested throughout” – Suzanne

“Jem’s patterns are sanity savers! My husband died last year and I have a full-on case of “Grief Brain” meaning I need immersive distractions but cannot do too much in-depth thinking for myself. Jem’s patterns are so well written - in clarity and detail - that I can trust myself to just follow the pattern and know I will get a perfect result at the end“ – Isla*