Hockey Shawl

The lovely owners of River City Yarns asked me to design something with the fun Hat Trick yarn they’ve developed. What better than a shawl that can be worn to a hockey game?

[Edit: Hat Trick yarn is now available from Ancient Arts Yarns.]

I wanted to do a mash up of a lace shawl and a team uniform. To maintain the feel of the uniform there’s a large area of solid colour in stocking stitch. This has an added benefit of making the project more approachable to beginner shawl knitters. The lace begins in the solid colour where it’s clearly visible and then segues into the busy hand-dyed yarn.

I chose a lace pattern with a lot of movement so it would draw the eye and make a busy variegated yarn look great. While the intricacies of the simple lace pattern might not immediately be visible, the stitches do dance and undulate along the curving rows.

Yarn substitutions are a definitely possible here. Of course solid and tonal hand-dyed (or commercial) colourways will also work and look fantastic. If you plan to use a variegated yarn, be sure to choose one with some long stretches without any colour changes.

Finally the shawl ends with the solid colour repeated along the lower edge. To me it’s like the neckband on the uniform, framing the other colours and pattern.

Hat Trick is a hand-painted sock yarn that comes in NHL-inspired colourways. [Ed. Originally developed by Ancient Arts Yarns for River City Yarns, now available exclusively from Ancient Arts Yarns.]

What are your favourite team colours?

Get the pattern: Hot Shawl
Available in three sizes: wingspan approximately 46, 57, 69″ / 117, 145, 175 cm and centre back length approximately 23, 28.5, 34.5″ / 58.5, 72.5, 87.5 cm
Yarn specs: 185, 245, 305 m / 200, 270, 335 yd Ancient Arts Hat Trick and 220, 360, 535 m / 240, 395, 585 yd Louet Gems Fingering (discontinued); Try Short Handed or Top Shelf for solid colour, both Hat Trick colourways offered by Ancient Arts.