I just finished a lace shawl for my 90 year old mother. I got the pattern from Heirloom-knitting. It is an easy to knit, and is especially beautiful made of lace weight kid mohair. But…. for my purposes, that being stability and warmth, I chose to knit it with Knitpicks “Gloss” fingering yarn, made of wool and silk.
Here is a photo of it on the bed, drying in the glare of the snow outside.
Here is a close-up.
I did modify the pattern on the top, as my mother will want to close it with some sort of button, or frog. To give it a more stable finish after the finally row of decreases, I just knitted about 4 rows, then worked a Pico edge, to give it the extra stretch that was needed for it to lay out nicely.
As you can see in the photo above, I now have a modified scallop at the top, but it is not as drastic as the one’s on the sides.
The bind off I used was accomplished by casting on one stitch (knitted cast on). Knitting that stitch and the next one, I dropped the first stitch over the second, counting it as one cast off stitch. Next, I cast off 2 more stitches in the normal way.
Slipping the stitch left on the right needle back to the left needle, I began the process again. That’s it! Cast on one, bind off three.
*Note – Because I didn’t go to a smaller needle, as is sometimes recommended for a pico cast off, this method created a small scalloped lace edge. I think it looks great. It works for me!!
You can get this lovely pattern call “Frost and Ice Shawl” at Heirloom-knitting.
Happy Knitting –
KT
Creative Knitting - Beyond Knit and Purl 
So beautiful! You mention that it was made for your “90 year old mother” and this brings up something I have been wondering about. I would like to make a lace shawl or cowl for my sister with some 100% Alpaca sport wt that was gifted to me. The problem? If it becomes necessary for her to launder it (maybe from make-up smear, etc) it would need to be re-blocked. She is not a knitter so has no blocking supplies or know-how, and lives 1000 miles away so I can’t do it for her. Is there anyway around this other than using acrylic yarn that won’t need blocking? I would appreciate your thoughts on this. Thanks!
Terry: The Stroll Sports Yarn at Knitpicks is prewashed wool and nylon. It is also washable.
That said, you might also buy her a folding cardboard cutting board, mark top and bottom, and outline dots to indicate where the blocking T-pins should go. Then after she washes it and wraps it in the towel to remove any moisture, she can open her board on the bed, spread out the shawl and pin it where you have marked. If you are concerned about the moisture, you could staple or glue clear vinyl over the board.
Hummmm….. that’s an idea even I could apply to my own. Thanks for the question. That is how we come up with new ideas.
Just a thought- KT