Inspired by the poems “A Drop fell On The Apple Tree and “Like Rain It Sounded Till It Curved” by Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), the Gentle Rain Shawl represents the individual raindrops that often precede an intensive rain shower. The poet Emily Dickinson wrote almost 1800 poems during her lifetime and many of her poems contain detailed references to the natural world and the weather.
 
The Gentle Rain Shawl stitch pattern builds up gradually from textured eyelets worked within garter stitch to larger eyelet holes on a stocking stitch background. Each stitch pattern represents the changing intensity of a rain shower, with the final drops worked as a picot cast off edge.
 
The shawl is knitted with one skein of merino silk 4ply yarn and one skein of alpaca silk lace yarn held together throughout, with the alpaca fibres gently blurring both the yarn shades and the stitch patterns. The shawl’s curving asymmetric shape is created by knitting a right-angled triangle on the bias.
 
Yarns
Irish Artisan Yarn Hand Dyed 4ply Yarn (85% Non-superwash Merino, 15% Silk, 450m/492yd per 100g skein) Shade Flax; 1 × 100g skein. held together with Irish Artisan Yarn Hand Dyed Lace Yarn (75% Baby Suri Alpaca, 25% Silk, 420m/460yd per 50g skein) Shade Cornflower; 1 × 100g skeins. 
 
Or 4ply Option: Use 6 x 80m 20g 4ply mini-skeins, totalling 480m, in place of the Merino Silk Yarn, and hold together with the Alpaca Lace yarn
 
DK Option: Use 10 x 45m 20g DK mini-skeins or 2 x 225m 100g DK Full-Size Skeins, totalling 450m. This option is knitted without the Alpaca Lace yarn.
 
Yarn amounts given are based on average requirements and are approximate.