Another Icelandic Shawl

Last year, I knit the Icelandic Lace Shawl with lots and lots of changes. I had a lot of the yarn leftover so I knit another Icelandic shawl, Halfskak by Sigridur Halldorsdottir from Three-Cornered and Long Shawls. Again, I made lots and lots of changes. And, once again, I am happy with the results.

Yarn: Knit Picks lace weight: undyed (white), Jewels (blue), Lost Lake (green), and Sunset (red)

Needles: US 6

Finished size: 25 inches center back

Changes:

• Extra stitched added to each side and slipped.
• Fewer colors than original (I really am trying to knit from stash).
• Stockinette, not garter, on the white section.
• Extra repeats of the white section.
• Centered double decreases on the colored section.

Needs Some Changes

Some patterns just need to be changed, at least for my taste. The Icelandic Lace Shawl is one. The pattern appears in three places: Three-Cornered & Long Shawls by Sigrídur Halldorsdóttir, with a translation into English by Marilyn van Keppel; PieceWork magazine, July/August 1996; and online at Knitting Daily.

I used Knit Picks laceweight yarn: Bare Merino (white) and Shadow Lost Lake (green), Jewels (blue), and Vineyard (dark red). Knit on US6 (4mm) needles.

This is one of those patterns that I needed to read thoroughly and completely before starting, making margin notes along the way. Based on that reading, I made changes from the get-go:

• Fewer colors.
• Provisional cast-on instead of a “regular” cast-on to pick up stitches later.
• Stockinette instead of reverse stockinette, with 1 stitch garter edge.
• Centered double decrease in Chart B.
• Directional double decreases elsewhere instead of k3tog.
• Picked up for the border from the provisional cast on, knit 4 rows, purl 1 row to create ridge.
• Finished with 6 rows garter and Icelandic bind-off instead of crochet bind-off.

The shawl is about 25 inches long. If I make it again, I can see more changes I might make. Someday.