Inis Oírr, pronounced inish-eer, is the eastern-most and smallest of the Aran Islands of Ireland, located in Galway Bay.  Traditional Aran sweaters hail from these Islands, and this wrap, named after this smallest island, was inspired by these designs.

The Inis Oírr is designed to be multi-use – a blanket or an oversized shawl to wrap yourself in during the coldest of the winter months.  The main body is constructed first, knit in one piece, and then the border is knit onto it, creating a seamless and continuous flowing cable around the main body.

Schematic

Size

Finished size is approximately 35” [89 cm] x 90” [228 cm]

Yarn

Valley Yarns Northampton (100% wool; 247 yards [226 meters]/100 grams): 03 Fawn, 9 balls

Thanks to Webs for sponsoring the yarn for this design!

Needles

Size US 7 (4.5 mm): 30” circular needles

Size US 7 (4.5mm): double pointed needles

Notions

Stitch markers; cable needle; tapestry needle; waste yarn

Gauge

16 sts and 24 rows = 4” [10 cm] in St st after wet blocking.

Abbreviations

Please see our standard abbreviations.

2/2 LC: Slip 2 stitches to cable needle and hold in front; k2; k2 from cable needle.

2/2 LPC: Slip 2 stitches to cable needle and hold in front; p2; k2 from cable needle.

2/2 RC: Slip 2 stitches to cable needle and hold in back; k2; k2 from cable needle.

2/2 RPC: Slip 2 stitches to cable needle and hold in back; k2; p2 from cable needle.

JN: Work until last stitch, sl 1, pick up stitch through edge stitch, pass slipped stitch over.

PU w&t: Pick up w&t and purl. Work to first wrapped stitch, pick up wrap and work together with stitch, turn and work to end. Note: when picking up, work in pattern (k2tog the k sts, and p2tog the p sts).

w&t: Bring yarn to front, sl 1, bring yarn to back, return slipped stitch to left needle, turn and work as instructed.

Pattern Notes

Red highlighted portion in the body is to be repeated a total of 4 times (40 stitches).

To work the edge join, complete as follows:

1. On the ws, work to last stitch;
2. Sl st pw on border;
3. Pick up main body st through the slipped stitch on the border;
4. Psso;
5. Turn to work rs;
6. Slip first stitch pw.

Each time you follow these six steps it will “eat up” one body st.

You can see a photo tutorial of this join being worked on Kelly’s blog.

• If you want to size the pattern up or down, simply change the repeats, making sure your row and stitch counts are in multiples of 40 (this will allow the border to fit proportionally). 

Charts

All charts are clickable and expand

Main Body

Chart updated 8/22/16

Border

Mitered Corner

Main Body

CO 120 sts using long tail cast on method, or your favorite stretchy cast on (this will allow your stitches to be picked up easier when you come around with the border later).

Work rows 1-20 of Main Body chart, repeating 23 times (460 rows).

Work rows 1-18 one more time (478 rows).

BO all stitches loosely.

Border

With a piece of waste yarn, provisionally cast on 24 stitches. Turn (the wrong side will be facing you now).

With ws of the main body facing you, using the needle you just provisionally cast on to, begin attaching the border by locating the first stitch you cast on at the beginning of the piece (bottom right hand corner).  If you used the long tail cast on method, this will be the corner opposite your cast on tail.

With RS facing, begin border pattern by working row 1 of the border chart.

Continue in this fashion until you reach the edge, 12 reps of border chart have now been completed (3 reps on the CO and BO edges), ending on row 40 of border chart.

Mitered Corner

Begin row 1 of mitered border chart. Work rows 1-91.

On row 92, you will work a hybrid of the JN and PU w&t stitch as follows:

1. Work to the final wrapped stitch;
2. Pick up wrapped st and slip both tog onto working needle as if working the join;
3. Pick up st through first edge stitch as you would for the join;
4. Sl PU w&t sts over picked up stitch.

Continue in established pattern, joining to every other Shawl Body stitch on both the Top and Bottom, until after you complete your final mitered corner. You will now be back at the beginning, at your provisional cast on.

Finishing

Transfer provisionally cast on sts and the sts you just worked to dpns.

Using Kitchener stitch, join the edge you just knit to your provisional cast on.

Weave in ends, wet block, and enjoy!