Culpeper is a top-down, half pi shawl with a knitted-on border. The design was inspired by the beautiful countryside of the Virginia Piedmont region as well as the Blue Ridge Mountains. Culpeper is filled with fun-to-knit lace patterns that evoke images of some of the plants native to the region such as oak ferns, wild blueberries and roses, and red maple and elm trees.

While dimensions and yardage are provided for fingering weight, Culpeper could also be worked in any weight you choose. Solid or tonal yarn is recommended in order to show off the design to its best advantage. The size may be easily increased up to a 68” (173 cm) wingspan by working additional repeats of the final leaf pattern before the border. The pattern includes detailed directions for the knitted-on border and step-by-step blocking notes.

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

Construction: Culpeper starts at the center back of the neck with a garter tab and is knit down to the bottom edge. There is a 3-stitch garter border on each side. The method of shaping the shawl body is based on Elizabeth Zimmerman’s revolutionary pi shawl formula, where the stitches are doubled whenever the row count doubles. After the body is completed, a knitted-on border is worked and attached simultaneously, at right angles to the shawl body.

Size and Yardage: Pattern size 58 x 26” of (147 x 66 cm) used 675-725 yards (617-663 m) of fingering weight yarn. Larger sizes are available using up to 200 more yards (183 more meters) for a shawl measuring 68 x 31” (173 x 79 cm).