Amizade

Amizade Triangular Shawl by Loumai

What is Being Made

Amizade is a top-down triangular shawl designed by independent designer Loumai. The name means "friendship" in Portuguese, reflecting the designer's philosophy that knitting with friends is the best experience. This shawl features eyelet lace flowers throughout the design and finished measurements of 1.80 meters in length and 66 centimeters in width, making it a generous wrap suitable for various occasions.

Knitting Techniques

This intermediate-level knitting project employs several key techniques to create its distinctive structure and aesthetic:

• Top-down construction: The shawl is knitted from the top downward, allowing knitters to try on the piece as it grows and adjust the final size if desired
• I-Cord borders: I-Cords are worked on all sides of the shawl, creating neat, finished edges that frame the triangular shape
• Eyelet lace: Decorative lace flowers are incorporated throughout the design using yarn overs and decreases to create openwork patterns
• Lace stripe sections: The pattern includes repeated lace stripe sections that build the overall design
• Slipped stitch edges: Slipped stitches are used at the borders to maintain clean selvage edges

Stitches Used

The Amizade shawl utilizes fundamental and decorative knitting stitches including stockinette stitch as the base fabric, yarn overs for creating lace openings, knit-front-back increases for shaping, purl stitches for texture variation, and slipped stitches for edge definition. The I-Cord borders employ garter stitch principles to create the characteristic rounded cord edges.

Materials and Specifications

This project requires 800 to 900 meters (875 to 985 yards) of yarn in 4-ply, DK, or sport weight, providing flexibility in yarn selection within these lighter weight categories. Knitters should use 4.5 mm (US 7) needles to achieve the specified gauge of 21 stitches and 32 rows per 10 centimeters (4 x 4 inches) in stockinette stitch. The pattern begins with a long-tail cast-on of 5 stitches and uses stitch markers to track pattern repeats and shaping points.

Pattern Format

Amizade is provided as a downloadable PDF pattern for personal use, designed by Loumai and copyrighted in 2016. The pattern is presented in one size with detailed row-by-row instructions for the setup section and lace stripe sections.