Stratus clouds often look like thin, white sheets covering the entire sky. To reflect that, I chose a beautiful yet simple lace pattern for the entire shawl. To keep things interesting and to add extra movement to the lace, I varied the directions of the lace repeats, which results in a more dynamic pattern - the lace pattern is charted and has written row-by-row instructions.

Sometimes stratus clouds look like fog, especially in the mountains or hills, and I chose a gossamer mohair yarn to interpret that quality. Since the stratus clouds are very thin, they seldom produce much rain or snow, but when they do, it’s in form of light drizzle or few scattered snowflakes. Using that fact as inspiration, I added a few sparkly beads throughout the lace (200 6/0 4mm seed silver lined crystal seed beads, optional). Besides the pretty shimmer, the beads also add lovely drape to the gossamer yarn, and more beads can be added since there are plenty of places in this lace perfect for placing beads.

The stole is worked simply, from edge to edge, in full lace pattern, beginning and ending with borders that flow seamlessly into the lace motifs. The shawl is worked with eyelet edgings, which can be later used for blocking wires. While the lace pattern may seem intricate, it uses only very basic stitches, almost all reverse rows are purled, and the addition of beads is optional.

This pattern is a part of the Cloud Atlas collection of four shawl patterns, available as Ravelry e-book.

Yarn: Any mohair-type lace weight yarn; the original was knitted with approximately 545 yards of Miss Babs Moonglow (72% Kid Mohair, 28% Silk; 435 yards / 400 m per 50 grams); color Plover
Note: For non-mohair yarns, add two or three stitches to each garter edge to prevent rolling.

ETA Dec 5, 2021 - pdf updated with correct chart for the 2nd Border and its written row-by-row instructions. Everything else remains unchanged.

Questions or comments about my designs?
Interested in KALs & MKALs?
Join Susanna IC group on Ravelry:
http://www.ravelry.com/groups/susanna-ic