Wednesday 19 May 2010

Ostrich Plume Shrug


I love Ostrich Plume lace! I've designed a shrug, based on all the other 'knit a rectangle and seam into a circle' shrugs that are around. Not very original, but it's cute!
I made it for Mam Graig Fawr, my mamgu. She's not very well at the moment. I spoke to her on the phone and she sounded so fed up, I wanted to make something to cheer her up.

PDF can be downloaded here.

Edit 29/05/10: There were 2 errors in the pattern. I'll try to explain.
The ribbing is CO with 5mm needles, then each st (except the first 2 and last 2 sts) is kf&b and pf&b. Then you switch to 7mm needles and do the body (lace) section, then (except the first 2 and last 2 sts) you k2tog and ptog. Then you switch back to 5mm needles to do the last ribbing part.
If you have any questions, please message me. Thank you!

29 comments:

Anonymous said...

the ostrich plume pattern makes it soooo much more fun than most of these I see-thanks for the pattern!

Umiko said...

I saw this on Ravelry, it's very pretty. I have a serious weakness for shrugs :)

Myra D. said...

This is a GORGEOUS shrug! I can't wait to cast on

DesiLoop said...

The link for download does not work.

Andrew Craig Williams said...

Hi Shweta, the link works for me. I just checked and 146 people have downloaded it so far! When you get to the archive.org page there is a link on the left side to donwload the pdf. Let me know if you have any trouble and I'll email it to you.
Andrew ;)

Anonymous said...

I love your Ostrich Plume Shrug pattern and tonight cast on for the ribbing, using the 5 mm circulars as you stated in page one of your pattern. However, at the top of page two, when I am supposed to decrease the ribbing and start the lace, it says Switch to 5mm needle. Do you mean switch to 7 mm needle, or is the needle size designation at the bottom of page one reversed and I should have cast on the 156 ribbing stitches with the 7 mm circulars and not 5 mm? I was going to start the ribbing but need to make sure which needle size is for which part of the shrug. I hope you will get back to me soon, as this is to be for my granddaughter’s graduation and I have a limited time to get it knit before her big event.

I really appreciate your generosity in making this pattern available and know that it will make my granddaughter’s big event even more special.

Andrew Craig Williams said...

Hi Anon, I sent you a message on Ravelry. x

HRH Sarah said...

Hi, there~ I don't know why, but when I click on the PDF link, it opens a blank tab. I tried it in Firefox, and IE- it doesn't work in either one. I know others have managed to download it (and are probably already wearing their gorgeous shrugs, grrr..) Any help?
Thank you!

HRH Sarah said...

Ignore the last post. I went to the http page and that link worked, for some reason. Thanks again for the nifty pattern!

Cydne said...

Hi,
I just downloaded this pattern and noticed the corrections. To me it looks like you are saying to cast on with the small needles, knit the ribbing, and then INCREASE the number of stitches (the original pattern decreased the number of stitches)and then switch to the larger needles. After knitting the body, I follow the above steps in reverse.

Am I understanding this correctly? Or were the corrections just for the needle sizes and not switching the point at which I increase and decrease?

Thank you, and thanks for sharing!

Cydne said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Andrew Craig Williams said...

Cydne, sorry I'm not clear at all am I? You're absolutely right, you knit the ribbing on the smaller needles, then INCREASE and knit the lace part with the larger needles. Then you DECREASE and knit the last bit of ribbing on the smaller needles again.
I really need to learn to test my patterns more rigorously! Hop you enjoy knitting it.
Thanks, Andrew x

Cydne said...

Thanks for the clarification! I thought that was what your corrections meant, but wanted to make sure before I had a really funky shrug halfway made!

If it helps someone else, this is how the corrected pattern should read:

Ribbing:
Using 5mm needles CO 156 (or whatever your count is)
K2, P2 ribbing for about 5 inches
P2, *Kf&b, Pf&b (repeat to last 2 sts)
P2 (or whatever your sts are, depending on your count)
Switch to 7mm needle

Body:
Sl1, K2, *P13, K2 (repeat until last st), K1
Sl1, P2, * K4tog, [YO, K1 5 times], YO, K4tog, P2 repeat until last 3 sts, P2, K1
Sl1, K2, *P13, K2 (repeat until last st), K1
Sl1, P2, *K13, P2, (repeat until last 3 sts), P2, K1
Repeat these four rows until the body part is about 21 inches (or longer if you are knitting a
bigger size). It’s easy enough to hold up against you to see how much more you have to knit
Now you switch back to 5mm needle

K2, *P2tog, K2tog (repeat to last 2 sts) K2 (or whatever your sts are, depending on your count)
you will now have the same amount of sts as you CO

Ribbing:
K2, P2 ribbing for about 5 inches (or the same number of rows as you did for the first ribbed
part)
CO loosely (My CO is always too tight, so I use a larger needle to CO)
Finishing:
Weave in all ends
Sew together as in the picture

The Secret Scrolls said...

You rock with major talent!

JK said...

Why do you use circular needles to knit a rectangle? Is it so all the stitches fit on the needle?

Andrew Craig Williams said...

Hi JK that's right, unless you have really really long straight needles!

Annie said...

Dear Andrew

Thank you so much for sharing this pattern. I've recently finished knitting it in a plain white DK yarn and it has made a fabulous shrug. The ostrich plume stitch is just stunning.

Andrew Craig Williams said...

Thanks Annie! What a lovely comment. I'd love to see a photo of your finished shrug, are you on Ravelry?

Annie said...

Hi Andrew

Sorry it's taken me so long to reply. Yes, I have photos and I've just registered and loaded up the project to Ravelry:

http://ravel.me/AnnieInCornwall/mhw1l

Kindest

Anonymous said...

Hi Andrew,

In context to cynde's comment, doesnt the ribbing part needs to be bigger to cover the body? I think that as your diagram your original post was right to DECREASE the stitches for the body and then INCREASE for ribbing. Please correct me if I am wrong, may be I am confused. I love the pattern.

Andrew Craig Williams said...

Gosh, I am stupid. Ignore my rambling about increasing and decreasing. You knit a shit-load of stitches for the rib, then decrease by half for the lace, then increase back to the original number for the last bit of rib, then seam up.
Totally right.
I'm easily confused.

Noranda said...

This is a beautiful pattern, thank you for sharing! Now I know what I'm going to make with those two skeins of angora that I've been holding onto! :-)

Andrew Craig Williams said...

Aww, bless you Noranda! What a lovely comment. I hope you show me the shrug when it's finished! :)

jayme said...

Hi Andrew I've just started this project this weekend. Is there a guide for how to determine how many stitches to cast on? I've cast on 156 using size 6 needles and plan to use size 8 needles for the body. I'm on the averager side for a women...typically wear size small/medium. Do think these measurements will work?

Andrew Craig Williams said...

Hi Jayme, I'm sorry I have no idea what size 6 or 8 needles are! If you use 5mm and 7mm and knit a swatch, you can measure your shoulders and see if it will fit. And when you're knitting, you can always hold it up to yourself to see if it will fit - if it;s still a bit tight, knit another pattern repeat before the final 5 inches of rib.
Hope that makes sense!

katzen30 said...

Being very tall and larger than medium, I will have to adjust the size. Am I correct that I should knit the ribbing for more than five inches to make it longer and increase the lace repeats to make it wider?

Thanks,
Pat

katzen30 said...

Since I will have to increase both the length and the width of this lovely shrug, I want to make sure I understand the process. I would make the ribbing longer to make the shrug longer and do more lace repeats to make it wider; is this correct?

Thanks,
Pat

Andrew Craig Williams said...

Hi Pat, yes, you are absolutely correct! It's easy to knit the ribbing longer, and just add in another one or two plume repeats. I'd love to see your shrug when it's finished. Happy knitting :)

katzen30 said...

Thank you again. Stay tuned!

Related Posts with Thumbnails