“In Wyoming they name girls Skye. In Newfoundland it’s Wavey.”

-The Shipping News, E. Annie Proulx

This design has been through a pretty big, complex naming-evolution, for such a small shawl: it could not be too obvious, so it couldn’t be called Wavey; it couldn’t be too directly named for Wavey Prowse, so it could not be called Wavey Prowse; it could not be called Prowse because no one wants to give Darth Vader any unnecessary grief. Now, finally, as this launches, it is called Prowes, so it is ridiculously far-removed from the obvious, sensible name, but keeps a sort of nautical, misspelled parts-of-boats feeling. Perfect!

Prowes is a simple shawl that combines softly undulating basic lace and textured, sturdy garter stitch. It’s written as a relatively small shawl/ shawlette, but pattern repeats can be added or omitted to make a custom shawl. As long as you work the pattern and garter sections as pairs, the numbers should work without the need to adjust them! There are notes at the end to help with customization.

As written, Prowes can be knit with just one ball of Knitpicks Chroma. It can also be used to show off a 400-yard skein of your own handspun.

Most people will need a US size 5 to 7 (3.75mm to 4.5mm) circular needle to get the listed gauge. (I knit lace shawls loosely, and use a 3.75mm with most wool fingering-weight yarns; if yardage is not an issue, gauge is not too strict here; go for the fabric you like best.)

First stitches are included in all stitch counts; you can slip or knit them, per your own preference.

Thanks for looking, and thanks to everyone who tested this pattern!

An updated pattern was issued on March 30th! If you downloaded this during the free-for-48 period, you should be able to get the updated pattern, but won’t receive an email notice - if this doesn’t come available in your Ravelry library, please see this link.