The design of shawl worn by Claire in the ‘Rent’ episode of Outlander is quite brilliant in its elegant simplicity. Below is my interpretation of this design, with the garter ridges angling downward from the center back. I offer two versions of the shawl – the simpler single color version which is equally lovely in solid or self-striping yarns, and the tri-color version, as seen in the Outlander ‘Rent’ episode, which is knit using intarsia in garter stitch.

Casting on only 3 stitches, the back is a reverse mitered square increasing to the desired back width and length. The front panels are then knit out from the back, each in turn, decreasing until only 3 stitches remain to be bound off.

Suitable for advanced beginner. Shawl is knit from the center back upwards.

Yarn - Knitter’s choice of yarn; DK, Worsted or Aran weight recommended. Approx. 450 yards needed

Needles - 12-14 inch straight needles or 24-30 inch circular needle, size appropriate for yarn used.

Gauge - Not critical; Approximately 4st /8r = 1”

Notes about Size: I wrote the pattern to approximate the shawl worn by Claire/Catriona in “Outlander” Season 1 “Rent” episode. She wears the shawl pinned at the front, not wrapped around her torso.

Claire/Catriona is also quite slender, so any shawl would be bigger on her than on a more full-figured woman.

The pattern, as written, using worsted weight/Aran weight yarn, should yield a shawl approximately 22 inches along the center back, and approximately 48 inches across the top edge. That’s the size of my shawl, after blocking.

It is not intended to be a large shawl, and is intended to be pinned in front, as worn in the show.

However, if you wanted to make it larger/longer, continue working the Back until you have reached the desired center back length. This will also make the shawl wider across the top, and may make it wide enough to tie around your body.

For example, the instructions are to knit the back section until you have 121 sts. To make the shawl 50% larger, you can continue until you have 181 sts; the center back would measure about 33-inches. And you would be working on 91/90 sts for the left/right front sections, which would make the total width across the top about 72-inches.

This may be enough to wrap around and tie at the back. You could also add I-cord ties to the points, if you need extra width to wrap around and tie.

20 September 2016 - Pattern is now available in Finnish - Thank you, Laura!

23 February 2019 - Updated English version to include photos & additional details for working the color changes at the ends of the left & right sides.

22 January 2020 - Added notes about gauge, garment dimensions, and up-sizing.