Some yarns, especially those with mixed colours over long stretches, look so good in the skeins but it’s not easy to capture that beauty into the knitted object. Duo has long stretches of one colour before changing to the next one and I wanted that to show. So I came up with this domino knitted shawl where each square will be different from the next one depending on where in the yarn I am while starting the square.

The Morrighan is the Celtic goddess of death and war and she can be seen as a crow or raven flying over the battlefield. She is also a goddess of passion and are often depicted in black and red. Her time of the year is the beginning of November when the earth gets to rest for the winter. This is a large shawl for snuggling up in during that time.

About the yarn
Järbo Garn Duo is a multicoloured yarn with reds varying from cherry black to strawberry pink. The colour reports are very long so it will take many squares before the same colour returns. If you can’t find a yarn with this colour pattern I suggest that you try and do it in different solid colour reds or with a thinner yarn and two strands of different colour reds held together for greater variation.

Main Yarn:     Järbo Garn Duo, 3 skeins (total: 200 g, ca 1000 m)
Järbo Garn Vinga, 2 skeins (total: 200 g, ca 382 m)
Additional yarn:    Ribbon yarn, ca 200 m, for the fringe
Cotton bouclé yarn, ca 200 m, for the fringe
Colours:    Multicoloured red with long colour reports (Järbo Garn Duo)
Black (Järbo Garn Vinga, fringe yarn)

Needle:     6 mm/US 10 (preferably a short circular needle)
Other tools:    5,5 mm crochet hook
Smaller crochet hook (for adding fringes)
Tension/Gauge: 14 st = 10 cm

Technique
Difficulty: Easy
Stitches used: knit, purl, decreasing, purled decreasing, one stranded cast on, picking up stitches,
Other craft: basic crocheting

Abbreviations
st(s)  – stitch(es)
k  – knit
p  – purl
k2tog  – knit 2 together
p2tog  – Purl 2 together
skp  – slip, knit, pass slipped stitch over – one stitch decreased
sp2p  – slip, purl2tog, passed slipped stitch over – two stitches decreased purlwise
sl    slip one stitch

Special abbreviations
p-sl1p-s   –  purl 1, slip 1 purlwise, put both stitches back on the left needle, slip the second stitch over the purled stitch and put the purled stitch back on the right needle.

Shawl

The shawl is made up of individually knitted squares started at the tip of the shawl and worked upwards towards the shoulders. The squares after the first one is made by casting on stitches for the edge and picking up stitches from the previous square. Triangles form the line at the top edge. A short circular needle will probably be the most comfortable to use for the squares and triangles.

The placement of the squares should be varied according to the coming colour on the skein so that very similar colours do not end up at the same place. Compare the skein to the squares and make a square where it contrasts to the surrounding squares. Make 78 squares and 13 triangles for a really large shawl or stop earlier for a smaller size.

General reminders
The first row after casting on/picking up stitches is always purled from the wrong side. The first st on every row is always knit (unless slipped for decreases).

Squares

Casting on for squares
First square: With Järbo Garn Vinga (black), cast on 39 st with one stranded cast on technique.
Squares at left edge: With Järbo Garn Vinga (black), cast on 20 sts with one stranded cast on technique. Continue at the right edge of the square from the previous row of squares and pick up 19 st (= 39 st)
Squares at right edge: With Järbo Garn Vinga (black), pick up 19 st at the left side of the in the previous row of squares and continue by casting on 20 st with one stranded cast on technique (= 39 st).
Squares in the middle: With Järbo Garn Vinga (black), pick up 19 st from left side of the square from the previous row, pick up 1 st from the top of the square between the ones from previous row, pick up 19 st from the right side of the square from the previous row.

Rows for squares
Row 1:     p 18, sp2p, p 18 (= 37 st)
Row 2:     change to Järbo Garn Duo (red), k 16, skp, k 1, k2tog, k 16 (= 35 st)
Row 3:     p all st (= 35 st)
Row 4:     k 15, skp, k 1, k2tog, k 15 (= 33 st)
Row 5:     p 14, p2tog, p 1, p-sl1p-s, p 14 (= 31 st)
Row 6:     k 13, skp, k 1, k2tog, k 13 (= 29 st)
Row 7:     p all st (= 29 st)
Row 8:     k 12, skp, k 1, k2tog, k 12 (= 27 st)
Row 9:     p 11, p2tog, p 1, p-sl1p-s, p 11 (= 25 st)
Row 10:     k 10, skp, k 1, k2tog, k 10 (= 23 st)
Row 11:     p all st (= 23 st)
Row 12:     k 9, skp, k 1, k2tog, k 9 (= 21 st)
Row 13:     p 8, p2tog, p 1, p-sl1p-s, p 8 (= 19 st)
Row 14:     k 7, skp, k 1, k2tog, k 7 (= 17 st)
Row 15:     p all st (= 17 st)
Row 16:     k 6, skp, k 1, k2tog, k 6 (= 15 st)
Row 17:     p 5, p2tog, p 1, p-sl1p-s, p 5 (= 13 st)
Row 18:     k 4, skp, k 1, k2tog, k 4 (= 11 st)
Row 19:     p all st (= 11 st)
Row 20:     k 3, skp, k 1, k2tog, k 3 (= 9 st)
Row 21:     p 2, p2tog, p 1, p-sl1p-s, p 2 (= 7 st)
Row 22:    k 1, skp, k 1, k2tog, k 1 (= 5 st)
Row 23:    p all st (= 5 st)
Row 24:    skp, k 1, k2tog (=3 st)
Row 25:    sp2p (= 1 st), break of yarn and pull the end through the last stitch.

Triangles

Casting on for triangles
Triangle at right edge: With Järbo Garn Vinga (black), cast on 20 sts with one stranded cast on technique. Continue at the right edge of the square from the previous row of squares and pick up 19 st (= 39 st)
Triangle at left edge: With Järbo Garn Vinga (black), pick up 1 st from the top of the square between the ones from previous row, 19 st at the left side of the in the previous row of squares and continue by casting on 20 st with one stranded cast on technique (= 40 st).
Triangles in the middle: With Järbo Garn Vinga (black), pick up 1 st from the top of the square between the ones from previous row, pick up 19 st from left side of the square from the previous row, pick up 1 st from the top of the square between the ones from previous rows, pick up 19 st from the right side of the square from the previous row (= 40 st).

Observe that there is one picked up stitch between the triangles which makes the total number of stitches 40 for the middle and left side triangles. These stitches are not knit but will be left for the top edge. 2 stitches are left on the needle at the first turn on these triangles.

Rows for triangles
The triangles are made by doing short rows on the middle of the squares. Each row is 1 st shorter than previous row at each end before the turn. Leave the unknit stitches on the needles and transfer all of the stitches to a strand of yarn or knit picks cable when finished.

Row 1:    sl, p 17, sp2p, p 17, turn
Row 2:     change to Järbo Garn Duo (red), sl, k 14, skp, k 1, k2tog, k 14, turn
Row 3:     sl, p 29, turn
Row 4:     sl, k 11, skp, k 1, k2tog, k 11, turn
Row 5:     sl, p 9, p2tog, p 1, p-sl1p-s, p 9, turn
Row 6:     sl, k 7, skp, k 1, k2tog, k 7, turn
Row 7:     sl, p 15, turn
Row 8:     sl, k 4, skp, k 1, k2tog, k 4, turn
Row 9:     sl, p 2, p2tog, p 1, p-sl1p-s, p 2, turn
Row 10:     sl, skp, k 1, k2tog, turn
Row 11:     sl, p 3, turn
Row 12:    sl, k 1.
Transfer all stitches to one of the needles and then put them on a strand of yarn or cable needle until all triangles are finished.


Finishing

Edge
Put all the saved stitches from the triangles on a long circular needle. There’s 23 st/triangle + 1 st between the triangles (= 311 st for 13 triangles). Using Järbo Garn Vinga (black), start at the Wright side.
Row 1:    k all st
Row 2:    p all st
Row 3:    k, *p1 k1* to end.
Row 4:    k all p st, p all k st (moss stitch). Continue with moss stitch for two more rows. Cast of in moss stitch.

Making up
Fasten all threads from the squares and triangles. Block or press lightly (follow directions for the yarn).
Start at the top corner and do one row of crochet around the tip up to the other top corner.
Cut double lengths of fringes (fringe length ca 15 cm) from ribbon yarn and cotton bouclé yarn (or other yarn of choice). Add the fringe to the crocheted edge.
The fringe could also be made up from different sorts of black waste yarn. Maker sure that you mix them so that the various sorts get spread fairly evenly over the entire fringe.

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The contents of this pattern and its knitted design are subject to copyright. Even though it’s offered for free please respect the copyright and use this pattern only for your personal non-commercial use. Do not publish it without the designers consent, distribute or sell electronic or paper copies of this pattern, or commercially sell any items produced using the directions in this pattern. © CarolineCreations 2010