Mayapple is a charming wildflower that emerges beneath the forest canopy in early spring. It is a unique-looking plant, with only two large umbrella shaped leaves that rise on single stems above a very cute little white flower with six to eight petals. While walking in the woods earlier this year, I spied a cluster of little mayapples and was inspired to design a shawl with pretty flower and leaf motifs.

The dainty lace pattern I chose for the middle of the shawl body resembles the mayapple flower sheltered by two leaves. The border features a fern and bellflower panel finished with a lacy leaf edging. For the color of the shawl pictured, I looked no further than the bright and cheerful yellow color of the center of the mayapple flower. Mayapple’s shape is an easy-to-wear, elongated semi-circle.

Mayapple is shown in the wonderful Tosh Sock weight yarn but may be knitted in whatever weight you choose. The size is easily customizable by working more or fewer Body Chart 2 repeats. A solid or tonal yarn is highly recommended to showcase the intricacy of the design.

The pattern includes detailed instructions about how to work the various design elements, as well as video links that will walk you though every aspect of the pattern.

The Mayapple pattern includes both charts and full written out instructions for those of you who prefer not to use charts.

Construction Notes: Mayapple starts at the center back of the neck with a provisional cast on (only 9 stitches) and is worked down to the bottom edge. The body of the shawl is comprised of 3 triangles—a larger middle section flanked by smaller “wings.” A fancy lace wingspan edge is worked at the same time as the body. After the body is completed, a knitted-on border is attached at right angles.

Yardage: The average yardage for a shawl worked in fingering weight at the pattern size referenced above was between 750-800 yards (686-732 m) on US 5 (3.75 mm) needles. So in most cases, 2 average-sized skeins of fingering/sock weight yarn should be sufficient for the pattern size.