Long before the trees and flowers of the forest bud out their leaves, the bracken fern rises from the earth. Slowly, it unfurls, releasing its scroll-like head and stretching up towards the scant sunlight filtering down through the canopy of the west coast rainforest.

The Bracken Shawl was inspired by this early riser of spring. The body features a scroll-like lace that resembles a cabled pattern, and the border combines stockinette stitch ridges and leaf-like lace, ending with a frilled bind-off which allows for a subtle scalloped edge.

The green sample shawl was knit with MadelineTosh’s Tosh Merino Light (colourway: Mineral) and measures 75” along the straight edge, 83” along the curved edge, and 14” deep (191 x 210 x 36 cm). The purple sample shawl was knit from Dragonfly Fiber’s Pixie (colourway: Heliotrope).

This pattern contains both written instructions and charts. A row-by-row stitch count guide and a guide to customization are also provided.

Skill Level: Intermediate

Tools and Materials:

• 450 - 500 yards of fingering weight yarn
• 4 mm (US size 6) knitting needles, straight (14” long) or circular
• pins, wires, and a mat for blocking
• tapestry needle for weaving in the ends
• optional: two st markers for marking edge/increase sts, and up to 18 st markers for making pattern repeats

This pattern was tech edited by Trisha Paetsch.