During my week-long stay in Milano, Italy, as I was walking down a charming street, I spotted this very inviting yarn store named “Hydrangea Yarns”. Naturally, I walked in and the store owner and I struck up a conversation. When I shared that I am a knitwear designer, she generously offered a skein of her own hand-dyed yarn for me to design something with.

The lovely skein with the most beautiful shades of pink stayed quietly in my stash until I was inspired what to knit with it – again in Italy. As I was sitting by Lake Maggiore enjoying a sunrise, I swatched and completed knitting the shawl in a week’s time. The result is Valeriana. The pink hues and the undulating lace reminds me of Valerian flowers and to pay my tribute to the strong Italian connection of this design, I named it after the Italian word – Valeriana.

Instructions for the shawl come in two sizes. The smaller size (shown in pink) is knit using one skein of fingering-weight yarn, while the larger size (shown in violet below) is knit using two skeins of fingering-weight yarn.

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS
Width (top edge): 35 (49) inches/ 89 (124.5) cm
Depth at deepest point: 20 (31) inches/ 51 (79) cm