May is a season of leaves swelling, and a rushing green haze grows over the woods along the riverside. In the early rush of green two native species dominate the valley of the Speed River; the Black Willow, and the Grey Dogwood. The familiar drooping branch tips of the willow trail in the waters of the river, while in the underbrush of the woods, the dogwood bushes are sending up new leaves of brilliant burgundy that fade to green as they mature.

This shawl is a heart shaped triangle with a wide center panel of drooping willow leaves, framed by cabled twigs and the leaves of dogwood bushes. The bottom border of the shawl ripples like the river as it travels through the valley. This is an advanced skills pattern; each row travels across three charts, and there is lace shaping on both right side and wrong side rows in the dogwood leaf motif. Cables too are worked on both the right side and the wrong side of the fabric. The pattern requires patience, for a stunning result.

Materials Needed:
- 4mm (US 6) needles or size needed for a pleasing fabric
- @640 yards of fingering weight yarn
- Cable needle
- Darning needle to weave in ends

Optional Materials:
- Stitch markers to mark off the center panel (2)
- Stitch markers to mark lace repeats in the border (@34)
- Stitch markers to mark the garter stitch edges (2)

Instructions
Instructions are both Fully Written and Fully Charted, except for the cast on instructions which are written only.

This is an advanced level pattern: there is lace work on both the right side and wrong side rows, there are cables worked on the wrong side, and you will need to be able to work from three separate charts across all rows until the final border. None of these things are actually as difficult as they sound, but put together this makes a project that is not tv-knitting friendly.

A Note On Gauge
I do not consider gauge to be particularly important for a lace shawl. Instead, find the size of needles that gives you a fabric you like. If your needle size is significantly larger than suggested, be certain to have extra yarn on hand.