Annat Royd Shawl

Annat Royd is the third in my Yorkshire Collection of shawls and related accessories. It is a huge hug of a shawl, based on the triangular shape and knit in 4ply/fingering yarn. I chose two lovely non-superwash woolly yarns for my samples.

The first is a straightforward triangular shawl knit in Birlinn 4ply 100% wool yarn, from the beautiful island of Berneray in the Outer Hebrides. It is a robust yarn which is a joy to knit with; it gives great stitch definition, essential for all-over lace patterns such as Annat Royd. I chose the colour Haar, a pale grey flecked with darker strands, perfectly named for the sea mist rolling in from the Atlantic.

The second sample is a three-triangle shawl, which has a square profile. For this shawl, I chose the beautiful Doulton Border Leicester 100% Border Leicester 4ply yarn in the rich purple colourway, Hawnby Hill. I love this yarn, not only for its lovely stitch definition, but because the flock has a no-kill policy, meaning the sheep get to grow old and live out their lives on the farm. This is a shawl to snuggle up with on a cold winter’s evening.

The downloadable pdf pattern for Annat Royd is available from both Ravelry and the Granary Knits Payhip Store.

The Yorkshire Collection

For over a year now, I have been working on a collection of shawls and related accessories inspired by the Yorkshire countryside in which I live. It has been a magical experience, exploring my surroundings and being enthused by the landscape. The first two shawls in this collection, Harden Moss and Whitley Common, are available now, with more to come.

Harden Moss was inspired by the shapes of reservoirs in the High Peak District of Derbyshire and West Yorkshire. These typically have a distinct wide dam wall at one end gradually narrowing to a point, reflecting the shape of the valley that was flooded to create them. There are many such reservoirs dotted about all over the Peak District, varying in size from a small tarn to an entire rift such as Longdendale, flooded to provide water to local communities. This simple scrunchy garter shawl, worked sideways in a hazy laceweight yarn on very large needles, is quick to work, and the allover pattern of eyelets is easy to memorise. The pattern is available in the Granary Knits Payhip store and on Ravelry.

Whitley Common is a light capelet perfect for a summer wedding shawl. It’s shape is three-quarters-pi, and is covered in a graduated pattern of zigzags which mimics the many becks, streams, and rivulets that cover the heathery landscape. These lacy rivulets culminate in a border of flower motifs to represent the beautiful cotton grass that covers the common in summer. The pattern is available in the Granary Knits Payhip store and on Ravelry.

Snake’s Heid

The sinuous pattern and lacy “head” for this hat was developed during my City and Guilds Handknit textiles course, and originally formed part of a table runner. But the image of the snake’s head would not lie still, and eventually I had to turn it into a wearable accessory.

Aran, DK and 4ply hats

The result is a cosy beanie/toque style hat, which can be knit in fingering/4ply, DK, or aran/worsted weight yarns, in a large range of sizes. I knit the samples in 3 different blends of wonderful Blacker yarns – Lyonesse 4ply, Tamar DK, and North Ronaldsay Aran.

4ply slouchy
DK Beanie

The pattern for Snake’s Heid can be purchased from the Payhip Granary Knits Pattern Store.