Amazing Lace – Wedding Shawl Pattern Inspiration

If you ask me, the hunt for a wedding shawl pattern is a lot harder than a hunt for a wedding dress!

I’m getting married in January, in the New Zealand summer. We can expect a scorching hot day, and a cool night: I’ll want something around my shoulders in the evening.

I’m not looking for amazing wedding ring lace. That traditional style of knitting can be drawn through a wedding ring.

It’s stunning work – check out this website for more inspiration. Each shawl can take 200 hours for an expert knitter to complete. As much as I love knitting (and my fiancé!), I don’t want to spend that much time on a single project! And also because I love my fiancé, I’d rather spend time with him than squinting at lace charts.

So here’s my criteria for the perfect wedding shawl pattern:

• Achievable. I have six months and no yarn.
• Warm. Because otherwise what’s the point?
• Looks as good off as on. Because I want to take pictures.
• Has lots of Ravelry projects. So if I get stuck, I can lean on others for help.
• Beads??? Because pretty.

Here are some contenders so far. All images remain in the copyright of the author: please click through for more of their amazing work!

Amazing Art Deco-ish Wedding Shawl Pattern

Okay, so pattern doesn’t say “art deco”, but those zig zags and ziggurats say otherwise! This pattern was run as a KAL (knit a-long), so there will be lots of notes on any tricky bits. Plus, the relatively solid lace would make this shawl nice and warm.

Renaissance Fan Inspired Shawl

The designer notes that beads are used as a sneaky way of keeping count of rows. LOVE. The use of repeating motifs mean that this pattern would be easy(er) to hold in your head, and those points could surely be blocked more gently for a softer look. This pattern also looks stunning in bright colours – be sure to click through for more pictures!

Huge Wedding Shawl Pattern

This design looks simple enough to knit (relatively speaking!) but is very impressive. That yardage would also be very snuggly. The lace motif reminds me of peacock feathers, and I love the blue colour of the sample.

Bridezilla Capelet 

Pros:

• Heart shaped lace
• 1,200 beads
• Cape leaves hands free for drinking

Cons:

• Really unfortunate name. Click through to read the story of the bride this pattern was designed for. The designer says: “I love my sister dearly, but I’m pretty happy I only have one…”!

Estonian Lace Shawl

Traditional Estonian Lace uses the nupp stitch, a nubbly little cluster of stitches, which can also be substituted with… beads! I love how much lace is packed into this lace shawl – all those different patterns!

Tulip Flower Shawl

This elegant shawl honours the designer’s grandmother with the tulip design. I think that’s a wonderful way to bring a loved one who has passed on into your wedding. That’s why I’m also looking at the Alberta Shawl – Alberta was my grandmother’s name, but I’m not sure the shawl is as pretty as this one!

Dramatic Lace Shawl

This long shawl has both lace sections, and more solid sections. The contrast gives the finished piece a dramatic look. The dark maroon of the sample wouldn’t look out of place at a winter or goth wedding.

And these are just a handful of the amazing wedding shawl patterns online. I could look at them all day – and I have.  Check out my Pinterest board for more inspiration. I’ll continue to update it with more amazing shawl patterns as I see them.

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