Pachelbel

Variations on a theme describes this lace shawl with its herringbone lace lawn and exquisite lace borders.

Beginning with a picot cast on ...

... 2 simple lace patterns are worked this way and then that ...

... worked in to pieces and grafted in the center

Easy to wear ... dress it up for an evening out or toss it on over a sweater and jeans.

4 Sizes: Scarf (stole, shawl, wrap); finished measurements: 11¹/₂ (19¹/₄ , 27, 34³/₄)" wide by 80" long. Size shown is shawl.

Yarn: Sunday Knits 3 ply yarn (246 yd / 225 m per 50 gm) in Eden (100% merino), Angelic (75% merino 25% angora), Nirvana (92% merino 8% cashmere) or Brigadoon (100% merino tweed):

3 (5, 7, 9) 50-gm skeins. Substitute any fingering or light sport weight yarn.

Needles: Size 6 / 4 mm straight or circular needles.

Notions: Tapestry needle, stitch markers (optional), blocking wires and T-pins (optional but recommended.)

Gauge: 21 sts and 28 rows = 4" / 10 cm in Stockinette stitch.

Skills used: Picot cast on (explained), lace knitting worked on both right side and wrong side of fabric, grafting lace (explained).

Knit Pachelbel

Why are the pattern sections called Prelude, Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, Gigue and Finale?

In 17th century Germany, which is when and where Johannes Pachelbel was composing music, compositions were typically comprised of specific movements, and most commonly there were five movements in a musical suite: Prelude (beginning or introductory movement), Allemande (a dance in 4/4 time), Courante (a quicker waltz), Sarabande (a slower movement), and Gigue (very quick). I took liberties to the analogy and added my own additional finale movement.

The different sections of this Pachelbel shawl pattern could just as easily have been called Part 1 ... Part 5 (rather boring), or maybe they could have been called Part 1 - the beginning part ... Part 2 - the part where the stitches start to dance ... Part 3 - the part where the rhythm changes ... Part 4 - the part where it slows down a bit ... Part 5 - the part where it goes very quickly. But I thought that maybe these musical terms worked perfectly to describe the interplay between the basic stitch motifs during five very distinct phases or movements in the development of the shawl.
... Or maybe I'm just easily bored.

In any case, with or without an appreciation of the musical references, one may - and hopefully will! - enjoy making this shawl.