Spring of Life is an asymmetrical shawl that utilizes 6 gradient greens plus 2 additional colors to create an impression of spring. Seed stitch brings some texture to the grassy green sections, while slipped stitches and a modified daisy stitch represent sunshine and flowers in bud and full bloom. Sample shown uses Miss Babs Yummy 2-ply in the Ivy gradient set, plus Yummy 2-ply in Sunny and Purple Coleus. I was thinking of irises and purple wildflowers when I designed this, but if purple isn’t your thing, choose your own color to see what grows in your spring garden!

Finished size measures approximately 67” across the long straight edge by 20” wide across the BO edge.

Gauge: 22 sts and 32 rows=4” in seed stitch, blocked aggressively. Gauge isn’t crucial, but a difference in gauge will affect your yardage.

Materials: 1 US size 4 (3.5mm) needle, or size to make gauge, tapestry needle for weaving in ends. Optional needle one size larger for working the modified daisy stitch sections. Piece is worked flat, so you can use either straight needles or a circular needle, 24” or larger.

If you opt to use different yarn than shown in the sample, you will need approximately 95 yds/87 m of fingering weight yarn in each of 6 gradient greens, plus 125 yds/114 m in yellow and 80 yds/74 m in purple, or whatever color you choose for your flowers.

Notes: There are no increases in the color work sections, so you will notice a kind of step effect between sections. You can block these out, like the sample did, or leave them if you prefer.
As you work the modified daisy stitch sections, you will see some puckering. This can be minimized by working these sections on a larger needle, which will also open the eyelets some more. Whether you change needle sizes or not, you will need to block your shawl pretty aggressively to alleviate the puckering, but these sections do block out.