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Sometimes, in summer, humpback whales roll to their backs, white flippers akimbo, to arc their throats at the sky. In that sudden sunning the pleats of their throats flex and shine wet with salt water, like exotic fans stretching as mammals can. Rorqual is an asymmetrical shawl that pays homage to that singular, flexible architecture of the baleen whale.

Knit from top right tip to bottom left side with an I-cord top edge, the garter border is knit onto the live body stitches and picked-up edge stitches. Easily resized by simply working more or fewer rows of the body.

Skills required:
• Increasing
• Decreasing
• Picking up stitches

Yardage details:
• Main color - 350-385 yards
• Contrasting color - 200-220 yards

The lower end of the yardage estimates are what was actually used for the prototype. I normally add 10% to allow for differences in yardage consumption, which is reflected in the upper end of the range. If you’re using Pashmina or Rapture, the 10% I usually add to the yardage would require an extra skein for the main color, which you may well end up not needing. If it looks like you will run short, you can leave out a few rows of the body and/or use a 3rd color for the MC border stripes or just the last one (see last picture).

Pattern thread with more info is here.

Black and cream sample knit in madelinetosh Pashmina in Cloak and Luster. Brown tonal sample knit in madelinetosh Pashmina in Antique Lace, Dust Bowl, and Trodden.