The Tara Stole pattern

Sorry for the delay, I've been running around a fair bit these days. Well, without further ado, here it is...

Materials:
2 Hanks (340 m or 370 yards) Hand Maiden 4 ply Silk Cashmere [Color A]
1 Cone ColourMart Cashmere 4/14 Double Twisted DK Weight (570.0 yards or 520 m) [Color B]
1 US7 (4mm) circular needle (for back and forth knitting, you can use straight needles if you prefer)

Substitutes:
370 yards of any DK weight variegated yarn and 570 yards (or more) of a solid DK weight yarn that goes with it. I recommend using a natural blockable fiber (not superwash), but again, this is up to you!
OR
940 yards of a solid colored DK weight yarn

I'm not sure how a variegated colorway would look in the small spider pattern, but I think that variegated yarns look great with wavy lace patterns. If you have 940 yards of a variegated DK weight yarn and want to use it, swatch chart B over a large number of stitches and see how you like it.

Gauge:
Not crucial. I aimed for a dense fabric where there are no yarn-overs , and the yarn-over holes were big enough for my liking (I can stick my pinky finger through them). I was aiming for a colder weather shawl and this fits the bill perfectly. If you are an extremely tight knitter (or a loose knitter) you may want to go up (or down) a needle size. If you don't want to throw caution to the wind and want to do a swatch, swatch 45 stitches of chart A because the spider pattern is quite open anyways.

Blocked dimensions: 75 inches long by 22 inches wide with a light blocking.

Note: Right side rows are NOT charted. For ALL right side rows, Knit 2, Purl to last 2 stitches, Knit 2. The 2 stitch wide garter stitch border will form a non-rolling edge.

Upper border: Madeira Cascade

Loosely cast on 105 stitches with color A. Knit 4 rows of garter stitch (knit each row). Begin chart A. You will be knitting the 12 side stitches, 4 repeats of the center 20 stitches (between the red lines on the chart) and the final 13 side stitches. I have typed the number of plain knitted stitches in between yarn overs or decreases in red, to make the chart easier to follow. Knit 4 repeats of Chart A.


Center Pattern: Alternating small and large beads
Switch to yarn B. Knit 4 side stitches from chart B, work 6 stitch pattern repeat 16 times, knit 5 side stitches from chart. Repeat chart B 40 times.

Note: How many times you repeat chart B depends on how much yarn you have. By weighing your ball (or cone) of yarn before and after one full repeat of chart B you can estimate how many repetitions you can get out of your yarn and knitting gauge. If you are working with one type of yarn, be sure to leave about 187 yards (170 m) for the lower border.

Lower Border: Inverted Madeira Cascade
I did something tricky here... I basically knit Chart A upside down (worked rows 19 to 1 instead of 1 to 19) hoping that I'd get a mirror image of the upper border. It didn't quite work out, as we can see by examining the pictures closely, but I like it anyways. If you don't like it, you can either knit chart A in the proper order and throw any attempt at symmetry out the window, or if you are a big fan of symmetry you can put your stitches on hold (or a separate needle), knit 4 rows in garter stitch with yarn A, knit chart A according to the instructions for the upper border, and graft the body of the stole to the lower border. I suck at grafting, so I cannot provide very good instructions for that step. You should probably put a lifeline between the main body pattern and the lower border if you are undecided.

Lifeline instructions: get a smooth piece of scrap yarn that is reasonably thin (or a thread) that is a bit over 2 times the width of the stole. Put yarn on needle and thread through each stitch on your needles (being sure to catch all the yarn-overs). Pull yarn through and knot. Continue knitting.

Begin chart C using yarn A. You will be knitting 12 side stitches, 4 repeats of the center 20 stitches (between the red lines on the chart) and the final 13 side stitches. Knit 4 repeats of Chart C. To finish, knit 4 rows of garter stitch. Cast off loosely. My preferred method is to start: knit 2. Slip to left hand needle, knit 2 together. To continue: knit one, slip both stitches to left hand needle, knit 2 together. Repeat until one stitch is left, pull yarn through.

And here's the legend.
Now I have presented this for web-viewing but not for printing. I recommend downloading the charts separately (JPEG format) and using your favorite photo editor to resize them and attempt to put them on one page. Then you can copy and paste the text from this web page to a text editor and print them to keep the instructions handy. I haven't quite figured out how to post a PDF document onto the blog yet!

Enjoy!
p.s. You can search for the tag 'Tara Stole' to find my previously published tip on how to do the SK2P decrease faster, because chart B requires doing it an awful lot!