Twenty Four Birds is a full-circle shawl, inspired by the iconic prints and tapestries of the Arts and Crafts movement.

Those lavish, exuberant depictions of the natural world are a feast for the eyes and the imagination. Lush flowers and forests, twining vines and ripe fruit, mythical creatures and exotic birds: all things bright and beautiful, woven together in glorious abundance. Twenty Four Birds is a tribute to Arts and Crafts legends William Morris and his daughter May, Edward Burne-Jones, and their fellow designers and artists, left us such a legacy of beauty and craftsmanship.

This pi-inspired shawl is on a grand scale, full of rich detail and texture, featuring stylised botanical lace motifs which shift into a circle of twenty four “birds” towards the border, But don’t let that intimidate you! The pattern is suitable for brave beginners through experienced shawl knitters: while the lace looks intricate and impressive, the stitches are straightforward and simple.

The pattern includes detailed instructions, charts and row-by-row stitch counts with the Curious Handmade Percentage Checklist™ pattern format.

The sample uses four skeins of fingering-weight yarn: three gentle speckled colourways arranged in a gentle fade, with a semisolid feature panel as a pop, but the design also looks stunning in a gradient or even a single colour.

This pattern was originally published as the Curious Handmade 2024 Mystery Knitalong, in six “clues”. The full pattern is now available as a single PDF.

If you’d like to knit a semi-circular version of this design, check out its little sister, the Twelve Birds Shawl!

Sample Yarn
Voolenvine Nouveau
100% superwash merino; 365m/400yds per
100g skein,
4 x 100g skeins

Colourways:
Willow option
Colour A: Gilded Lily
Colour B: Pimpernel
Colour C: Sage
Colour D: Willow

Marigold option
Colour A: Sage
Colour B: Pimpernel
Colour C: Gilded Lily
Colour D: Marigold

or

Approximate yarn amounts used for sample in a
fingering weight single ply yarn:

Colour A: 65g; 237m/260yds
Colour B: 70g; 256m/280yds
Colour C: 95g; 347m/360yds
Colour D: 100g; 365m/400yds
For a total of 330g (1205m/1320yds) in fingering
weight yarn

If you’ve never knit a circular shawl before, I have a handy video tutorial for the cast-on, which you can watch here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLt0C4o8fzs

Happy knitting!

Helen x