This pattern is also available from my Payhip store.

Inspired by the Irish folk song of the same title, this semicircular shawl features a deeply curving picot edge and a lacy pattern of barley ears blown hither and thither by the wind. It is knit in DK weight yarn from the bottom edge up, and there are two lengths giving either a shoulder covering or a deeper shawl.

Lacy shawls are not normally knitted in variegated yarn as the frequent colour changes tend to distract from the lace pattern. Here, however, the pattern is one of movement and the variegation is used to add to the sense of wind shaking the barley.

The pattern features two charts, one being an extension to add length to the shawl. The edging is moss/seed stitch.

For my two Malabrigo samples, I chose a rich peaty brown with glimmers of gold - Glitter - for the short version to suggest the ripened barley; for the long version, I used Arco Iris to suggest the growing barley, still green. The Hawkshaw Sheep sample is in Coral.

Despite the bottom-up construction and slightly complicated cast on, this is a relatively quick knit, and the resulting shawl is both cosy and elegant. Knit the shorter shawl for a warm covering for the shoulders and upper arms; knit the longer for an interesting evening wrap.

This pattern was first published in Knit Now Magazine March 2020.