The Williamson Stole

By the Heirloom Knitting Group

Adapted from Mrs.Jane.T.Williamso
 The Williamson Stole
By the Heirloom Knitting Group

This stole is a recreation of a stole by Mrs. Jane Thomasina Williamson

of Guitqroy, Unst. She lived from 1865-1928. We are unsure of the date
of the shawl but suspect, from looking at her early pieces; that it is an
early piece in her oeuvre. It is made out handspun yarn.
 Introduction
While on a visit to the Shetland Isles edithcone and NitaBruce visited the
Unst Heritage Centre and took many beautiful photos of knitted lace
which can be seen here and here. They were kind enough to share
these with the Heirloom Knitting Forum on Ravelry. Several of us found
this particular shawl so charming and lovely that we were anxious to
recreate it so that we could knit a replica for ourselves. This pattern is
the result of our labours. We hope that you will enjoy it as much as we
have.
********************
This pattern is Creative Commons without copyright protection and is
available as a free Ravelry download. Feel free to use it as you wish but
please credit the Heirloom Knitting Group on Ravelry. And if you are
feeling particularly generous, please consider a donation to the Unst
Heritage Centre.

All photos are property of edithcone and Nita Bruce.

 Materials

Cobweb Lace is recommended as this will be a fairly large stole. The

original was handspun. We recommend that you make sure that you
have more than enough of the same dye lot before beginning your
project and a little extra for repairs to be kept with your dressed shawls
in case of need.

Suggested Yarns : Gossamer Web's Phoenix

Heirloom Knitting Cashsilk
Habu Textiles N-75 2/48 Fine Merino
Jamieson and Smith's Shetland Cobweb 1 ply
Needles: Size 2mm - 2.25mm U.S. size 0 or 1. We suggest swatching
to obtain a yarn and gauge that pleases you. Keep in mind that this will
be a fairly large stole and would be enormous with a heavier weight yarn
and needles.

Extras: Embroidery scissors for carefully cutting out waste yarn if you
use this method for your provisional cast on.
Fine tapestry needle for repairs and final finishing.
Stitch markers, if desired, to mark repeats.
Point protectors. It is suggested to use well-fitting point protectors
anytime you set your knitting down, even for a moment, as fine lace is
frighteningly quick to ladder. Putting in a lifeline every few rows will be
greatly appreciated in case this happens.
The large V in the edging chart means: to slip a stitch.
The v with the 2 on top in the edging chart means: to knit in the front
then to purl in the back of that particular stitch thus adding a stitch.
 Technical Notes and Knitting Advice

 Provisional cast on methods: Some good provisional cast-on

methods are shown here by Eunny Jang. A particularly nice
method is the invisible cast on. The reason that a provisional cast
on is used is for elasticity and to avoid having an obvious
beginning and end. It is stretchier and more polished looking.

 All charts are read from right to left on odd numbered rows and left
to right on even rows, as they are in Sharon Miller’s Heirloom
Knitting. We highly recommend her book as it explains so
eloquently the art of Shetland Knitting.

 It is better not to slip a stitch at the beginning of a row as many like

to do, as it will lose elasticity and more easily break during the
dressing/blocking of the stole.

 Check your work often. It is much easier to fix a mistake early on

than to see it when it is too late to correct. Lifelines are highly
recommended, as then you will never have to go back too far to
correct a mistake. The Gossamer Web sells fleegle needles which
have built in lifeline holes which make it very easy to put in a
lifeline.

 If you decide to use a silk, please be advised that quite a bit of

extra yarn will be needed and extra care in dressing as it does not
have as much elasticity.
  In order to minimize the bulk along the join and more easily pick up
evenly in the same place when attaching the edging, carry a length
of fine, smooth thread of a different colour along the straight edge
of the lace as you work. At each turn at the end of the row, wrap
this thread around the first stitch prior to knitting. When the stitches
for the border are ready to be picked up, insert a fine lace needle
exactly alongside the thread, which puts a strand of the edging
yarn on the needle ready to form the stitches for the border.

This Shawl’s Construction

This stole is knit with a garter stitch ground and has no bound off edges.
This shawl begins with a provisional cast on, then the first border and
centre panel are knit, leaving the stitches live. Then knit a second border
and graft it to the centre panel. If you prefer, you could knit a border and
half of the centre, repeating this and then grafting in the centre of the
stole. The edging is attached at the end by provisionally casting on and
working first down a long side. (Generally best to begin about a quarter
to a third of the way down and going counter-clockwise). On each return
attach to a side loop of the main body for the sides and the live stitches
on the top and bottom. Make sure to take care to ease the fullness
around the corners. Finish by grafting the two edging ends. More detail
to this is given with the edging chart.

Edging

Border 1 Central Panel Border 2

Graft
Flower chart
Cast on 211 stitches with your favorite provisional cast on method. Begin
by knitting the flower chart. There is 1 plain knit stitch between each
flower and 10 plain knit stitches at each end of the stole. 211 stitches. At
the end of the flower chart knit one plain row decreasing one stitch. Then
we suggest 4 more plain rows making a total of 5 plain knit rows before
beginning the grid chart. 210 stitches.

Flower Chart
Shell Diamond Grid
 Begin 2nd chart with shellgrid/large diamond beginning and ending with
5 plain stitches. (40 sts. repeat shown in white). For the stitches coloured
in red - omit these at the edges. For those central decreases in green
make them a / (K2tog) at the end of the row.

Large Diamond Border Chart

For the stitches coloured in red - omit these at the edges. For those
central decreases in green make them a / at the end of the row. I think
this should work. The repeat is in white with the blue line just to be
helpful in showing the pattern.
Strawberry Chart
Knit strawberry chart finishing with 2 plain rows and then a break pattern.
The strawberry chart should have 2 plain stitches between each repeat
in order to continue the top berries in pattern and have 7 plain knit at
beginning and at the end of each row. Finish with your 2- 5 plain rows.

Strawberry Chart

Break pattern is as follows: K1, (yarnover, K2tog…) K1.

Knit one plain row and continue on to the Centre Pattern:
Centre panel

Knit the Centre Hexagon Panel chart once then Peerie Flea (small
diamond looking chart) once, continuing with these two charts; first one
then the other, until desired length beginning and ending with a hexagon
panel. Our estimate is that it will be between 11.5 - 14.5 repeats
depending on desired length and type of yarn used.
The stitches outside the repeat shown between the dark lines are not to
be knit on the edge with the exception of the stitch shown in red which is
to let you know that on the edge these should be knit as / (2tog) rather
than the central decrease of 3. The other stitches outside the repeat are
just shown to let you better see the repeat and only those in red outside
the line would be knit - as 2tog on the edge.
 Centre Hexagon Panel Chart

Knit 2 plain knit rows between each hexagon and peerie flea charts.
Peerie flea
The Peerie Flea chart should have 4 stitches between each P.F. and 7
at each end.

Peerie Flea Chart

Make sure that you begin and end with a hexagon chart so as to be
balanced. Knit these 2 charts until you get the length that you want
remembering to knit 2 plain rows between each chart.
Knit one row plain, 2nd break row, knit another plain row leaving the live
stitches in preparation for the second border.
Knit second border and graft to the central panel.
Edging
 Edging Notes

Cast on 28 stitches and begin edging chart on row 1.

However, an alternate and perhaps better method of knitting the edging
would be to cast on 29 stitches and begin the edging on row 15 knitting it
first with a coloured waste yarn. Continue in pattern knitting the edging
until you reach the last row. Knit the last row with a differently coloured
waste yarn from the first. With a blunt needle, carefully follow the path of
the waste yarn with a nice long length of your working yarn. This will
make a new row from the two rows of your waste yarn neatly grafting
your two edge ends together in pattern. By grafting, you are mimicking
the pattern stitches as closely as possible so as not to show a break in
the pattern. Although it is never completely undetectable, if done well, it
is not obvious unless looking very closely indeed.

The blue line is a knit row but showing you to be cautious because the
insertion repeats at a different row count from the outer edging.

Edging Chart
 Dressing and Finishing
Carefully wrap your gently folded shawl in a white cotton pillowcase or a
piece of muslin and wash in lukewarm water. Gently blot it dry with a
clean towel before removing from the pillowcase. NEVER pick up a wet
Shetland shawl by the edges or any part as it is very fragile and will tear
and break. Lift gently from underneath and carefully unfold it to shape
and pin out to size. Please go slowly and carefully. This is NOT the time
to rush. Each edging point should be separately pinned into position or
you can use special lace blocking wires. Make sure that the wires are
clean and smooth before using. Let the shawl air dry. Gently remove the
dressing wires and or pins. It is a good idea to be sure to keep pets and
small children out of the room while dressing your stole.
If using silk, be particularly careful in dressing as it does not have the
elasticity of wool and may be more difficult to block straight. Take extra
care also in the stretching of it as it may break more easily.

Store the shawl folded neatly in acid-free tissue paper in dry conditions
away from light and insects. We suggest keeping some remaining yarn
with a copy of the pattern, in case you need to make repairs at some
later date, with the shawl. If the shawl should need to be mended make
sure to secure all loose stitches as quickly as possible to a thread or pin.
 Acknowledgements
A big “Thank You” for all those people making the pattern of this shawl available.

Nita Bruce (NitaBruce on Ravelry) for taking the pictures in the Unst Museum on Shetland.

Margot (sophiphi137 on Ravelry) for guiding all the work in the right direction, charting, swatching
and inspiring members to get it all done.

Monique (MoniqueB on Ravelry) for charts and testknitting

Aline (meepsy on Ravelry) for swatching and keeping up spirits.

Julia (jriede on Ravelry) for charting our swatches and making and correcting charts

Jennifer (m1k1 on Ravelry) for testknitting and construction ideas

Claire (laralorelei on Ravelry) for testknitting

Pam (plnc on Ravelry) for testknitting

Jill (jabberpaws on Ravelry) for testknitting and corrections

Debbie (Knit64 on Ravelry) for asking the right questions and swatching

Tiziana (tiziana on Ravelry) for swatching and deciphering photo’s.

Edith (edithcone on Ravelry) for her Photos and support

Sherry (WishomeStudios on Ravelry) for her support

Kerry (Ixtab on Ravelry) for charting and swatching.

These people were crucial for making the shawl take shape, and were most chattiest on Ravelry!
Several other readers and people mentioned on the group pages are thanked for their support and
comments.

We would also like to thank :

Ravelry for being the most wonderful and helpful knitting site ever imagined. Without it we never
would have been able to come together in such a way as to make this possible.

Unst Heritage Centre, all the knitters of the Shetland Isles both modern and historical, and of
course the original knitter of this shawl Ms. Williamson.
 WEBNOTES:

Unst Heritage Centre: http://unst.org/web/location/unst-heritage-centre/

Shetland Pictures by Nita:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10168516@N06/sets/72157624729996453/

Shetland Pictures by Edith:

http://s767.photobucket.com/albums/xx311/edithcone/Shetland%202010%20-
%20Knitting%20and%20Spinning/

Eunny Yang: http://www.eunnyjang.com/knit/2006/03/majoring_in_lace_part_iv.html

Yarns:

The Gossamer Web: http://www.etsy.com/shop/thegossamerweb

Heirloom Knitting: http://www.heirloom-knitting.co.uk/cart/order_cash_silk.php

Habu Textiles: http://www.habutextiles.com/N-75

Jamieson & Smith: http://www.heirloom-knitting.co.uk/cart/orderwool.php or

http://www.shetlandwoolbrokers.co.uk/epages/BT2741.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/BT2
741/Products/%22Yarn%20-%20Cobweb%22

Needles:

The Gossamer Web: http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheGossamerWeb?section_id=6355287

More Photos of the Original Shawl by Ms. Williamson