In the language of flowers, the Windflower, also known as the Anemone, brings with it mixed messages. Some used it to convey anticipation or protection from illness. Some believed it represented the bittersweet notions of dying hope and forgotten love. But, whatever its meaning, the windflower is a beautiful bloom, opening in the morning and closing at night. It comes in shades of red, lavender, white, and blue so rich that it is sometimes appears black. This shawl was inspired by this beautiful bloom, and also, by the poem, “Black Anemones”, by Agueda Pizarro. A link to the art song of the same title by American composer Joseph Schwanter (which I sang for my graduation recital back in my singing days) is included at the end of this pattern.

The Windflower shawl is worked from the top down, beginning with an extra-long, stretchy garter tab to alleviate issues with the dreaded crescent shawl hump. The body of the shawl is an easy-to-memorize lace pattern. The lace itself is only worked on the RS rows, but the WS rows do have purl-through-the-back-loop stitches to give greater definition to the lace pattern. The pattern includes instructions for three sizes (and it’s easy to customize this pattern to other yardages), as well as charts and line-by-line written instructions.

Thesample shawl was worked with Crooked Kitchen Yarn’s Merylon 75/25 fingering weight yarn (462 yards/422 metres, 100 grams) in the “Violet Blackregard” colourway. It is a size small.

Skill Level
Intermediate

Sizes (please note: final size is dependent on both gauge and degree of blocking. The letter references below refer to the in the schematic in the photos. )

Small A: 72”/183 cm B: 14.5”/37 cm C: 76”/193 cm
Medium A: 82”/208 cm B: 18”/46 cm C: 88”/224 cm
Large A: 88”/224 cm B: 20”/51 cm C: 94”/239 cm

Gauge
Windflower Lace: 18 st and 30 rows = 4x4” (10x10cm) on 3.75 mm (US 5) knitting needles, aggressively blocked.

Yarn Requirements
Small: 450-475 yards/411-434 metres of fingering weight yarn
Medium: 675-725 yards/617-663 metres of fingering weight yarn
Large: 800-850 yards/732-777 metres of fingering weight yarn

Needles
3.5 mm (US 4) knitting needles, straight (at least 14”/36 cm long) or circular
3.75 mm (US 5) knitting needles, straight (at least 14”/36 cm long) or circular

Notions

• pins, wires, and a mat for blocking
• tapestry needle for weaving in the ends
• optional: 2 st markers for marking edge/increase sts