And he sang as he watched and waited ‘til his billy boiled: “You’ll come a-waltzing, Matilda, with me.” A.B. (Banjo) Paterson, 1895

Waltzing Matilda is an asymmetrical triangle-shaped shawl which starts with a small cast on and increases to an extravagant lacy border. It has a little bit of stocking stitch, a little bit of garter and four different lace patterns which make for an interesting knit.

The shawl is made with fingering weight yarn and I used a lovely sock yarn from a local indie dyer, Three Mums’ Yarn.

The pattern is designed for yarn with a yardage of about 370 m (405 yds) per 100 grams. For those who might find themselves running a little short, this pattern has options to cast off early.

Waltzing Matilda will look best in tonal or solid colourways of yarn. Because the lace is detailed, variegated yarns with strong contrast between colours will conflict with the lace.

The design of the Waltzing Matilda shawl grew from three stitch patterns by Naomi Parkhurst (gannet) of String Geekery. The stitch patterns are Tea, Swags and Semiramis. Now, Waltzing Matilda is a very well known song in Australia, often called our unofficial national anthem. It tells the story of a swagman who camps by a billabong and makes a cup of tea - and so the name seemed just right. You can read the full story over here.

This pattern has both charts and full written instructions.

The pattern will suit you if:

• you like unusual lace which is different from the traditional patterns
• you like a pattern that changes as you work through it
• you are happy working double yarnovers, single and double decreases and 1/1 cables

This one might not be for you if:

• you are brand new to lace knitting
• you don’t like asymmetrical shawls

Thanks to my excellent crew of testers who make testing a real pleasure: kiki1306, Fredchen, katisha, SpinnenGarn, Jani22, kaisukka, yarna, Canberra and ReeMarieKnits.