Mordryg Shawl

Mordryg Shawl by Forest Flower Knits

Design Overview

The Mordryg Shawl is a beginner-friendly knitted shawl inspired by the coastal landscape of Cornwall. The design name "Mordryg" means "low tide" in the Cornish language, and the shawl captures the meditative quality of retreating tides through its construction. This downloadable PDF pattern is ideal for knitters seeking a contemplative project with visual depth created through color work and stitch texture.

What Is Being Made

A knitted shawl worked in three complementary shades of sea-inspired colorways. The garment is designed to evoke the rippling patterns and light-catching qualities of water at low tide, with the color progression suggesting the visual transition from shallow golden sands to deeper ocean waters.

Knitting Techniques and Stitches

The Mordryg Shawl is constructed primarily using garter stitch, a fundamental knitting technique that creates a textured, reversible fabric. Garter stitch is formed by knitting every row, producing horizontal ridges that echo the rippling motion of tidal waters. This meditative stitch pattern makes the project accessible to beginner knitters while creating visual interest through the interplay of light and shadow across the ridged surface.

The design incorporates color work across three different yarn shades, allowing knitters to create depth and dimension without complex stitch techniques. The color progression is intentional, moving through different tones to suggest the natural gradation of seawater from shallow to deep areas.

Yarn and Materials

The pattern recommends Blacker Yarns Cove 4ply, a 100% British wool blend yarn. Each color requires one 100g skein, which provides 306 meters (332 yards) of yardage per skein. The three colorways suggested are:

• Main Color (MC): Dulas Mor
• Contrast Color 1 (CC1): Mordon
• Contrast Color 2 (CC2): Steren

Blacker Yarns Cove is a woollen spun, plump 4ply yarn with excellent blocking properties. The woollen spin creates a naturally textured yarn that holds its blocked shape well, making it particularly suitable for shawl projects where drape and shape retention are important. When substituting yarn, knitters should choose a 4ply weight yarn with similar characteristics—particularly one that responds well to blocking and maintains its shape after washing.

Skill Level

Rated as a beginner project, the Mordryg Shawl is accessible to knitters new to shawl construction. The reliance on garter stitch eliminates the need for complex stitch patterns or advanced color work techniques, while the three-color design provides an excellent introduction to working with multiple yarn shades in a single project.