Pattern recommendations for Bowland Lace

We thought it would be really useful to have a blog post of pattern recommendations for our Bowland Lace yarn (we also have Askham Lace - baby alpaca/silk - and Titus Lace - merino/silk - which would work too) as 2ply laceweight isn't the easiest to know what to do with other than lace shawls. These are versatile yarns though and there's so much more than you can do with them. 

Before I continue - just a reminder - Bowland Lace is 100% superwash British Bluefaced Leicester wool which is soft, springy, lightweight, and more woolly than our other lace bases. It's 100g/800m, and we have a full introductory blog post all about it HERE. 

We've put a LOT of work into this list so I hope it's helpful. We've categorised the patterns and tried to seek out a decent mix of knitting and crochet. Please note there are no Ravelry links as the 2020 redesign of their website causes headaches and migraines for many people (plus worse, for some) so we can't in good conscience send you there. If you are able to use it though I'm sure you will find these patterns there too. 

PATTERNS THAT YOU COULD USE BOWLAND LACE HELD SINGLE WITH

Lace shawls:

Knit: A half pi shawl using one skein of laceweight (knitted): https://www.lavisch.com/site/zomerzon/

Knit: a lace shawl with optional beads: https://www.lovecrafts.com/en-gb/p/canevara-shawl-knitting-pattern-by-zuzana-pohankova

Knit: a shawl with sleeves! I’d have put this in garments but the description does specify that it’s a shawl with sleeves and will still sit like a shawl does, etc. It’s beautiful and very cool: https://www.lovecrafts.com/en-gb/p/shleeves-knitting-pattern-by-mary-annarella

Knit: a bottom-up textured shawl: https://www.lovecrafts.com/en-gb/p/bem-me-quer-knitting-pattern-by-seni-designs

Knit: a nice unusually-shaped shawl which looks quite dramatic: https://www.lovecrafts.com/en-gb/p/inception-points-knitting-pattern-by-ravenknits 

Knit: this one is a lace shawl but it’s nice and simple and a bit rustic, so a bit different to many of the others: https://www.lovecrafts.com/en-gb/p/srebrina-shawl-knitting-pattern-by-valknitting

Knit: a rectangular shawl with fairly simple lace: https://www.lovecrafts.com/en-gb/p/clover-creek-shawl-knitting-pattern-by-rachel-wolfe-designs

Knit: a big and delicate-looking shawl using traditional Shetland lace motifs. I think it probably uses laceweight that’s finer than our laceweight yarns but you could use slightly bigger needles if necessary: https://www.lovecrafts.com/en-gb/p/alice-maud-evening-wrap-knitting-pattern-by-deborah-mason

Knit: a lovely ethereal rectangular shawl: https://www.littletheorem.co.uk/store/p58/Beinn_Ghlas_Shawl_Knitting_Pattern

Tunisian crochet: a good opportunity to try Tunisian crochet if you haven’t already! https://yarntowers.com/product/pax/

Knit: a big delicate lace shawl: https://www.lovecrafts.com/en-us/p/summer-petals-knitting-pattern-by-mary-anne-mace

Crochet: The Shawl Project Book 5 by The Crochet Project. Five shawl/wrap designs made using laceweight yarns. To learn more about these designs check out our blog post HERE. The book is available on our website HERE.

Accessories:

Knit: A very cool hat (knitted): https://payhip.com/b/7HNK

Knit: Lace and brioche(!) scarf, uses two skeins of laceweight. Links to buy it on Payhip and love crafts are in this blog post: https://knitting-and-so-on.blogspot.com/2020/01/luftblaschen-brioche-and-lace-scarf.html 

Knit: a two-colour brioche scarf: https://www.lovecrafts.com/en-gb/p/traverse-brioche-scarf-knitting-pattern-by-sybil-ra

Crochet: this cowl uses three colours of laceweight yarn, it looks really cool: https://www.lovecrafts.com/en-gb/p/wickel-crochet-pattern-by-tanja-osswald

Garments:

There are patterns that use just one strand of laceweight yarn though - the first one I’d recommend is Wray by Lily Kate France. I made this years ago in Askham Lace (baby alpaca/silk) so can definitely recommend it. It’s also free!!

Knit: https://www.jolihouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Wray-by-Lily-Kate-France.pdf

Knit: A classic! Featherweight Cardigan (knitted): https://www.lovecrafts.com/en-gb/p/featherweight-cardigan-knitting-pattern-by-knitbot-hannah-fettig

Knit: This has an interesting construction! It uses one to two skeins of laceweight (check sizing info): https://payhip.com/b/IG7R

Knit: There are a variety of proper vintage patterns here; the gauge and yarn varies but for reference the first pattern has a gauge of 7sts per inch which should be about right for a 2ply laceweight yarn. It’s worth having a browse either way! https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/1940s-knitting-patterns 

Crochet: a very customisable lace top: https://www.lovecrafts.com/en-gb/p/dandelion-honey-knitting-pattern-by-anne-hanson

Knit: a lace tee: https://www.lovecrafts.com/en-gb/p/continuity-tee-knitting-pattern-by-conexus-knits

Knit: a frankly spectacular cardigan which incorporates a lace wrap and has optional beads: https://www.lovecrafts.com/en-gb/p/pavonis-knitting-pattern-by-robynn-weldon

Knit: another stunner; this is a fitted lace top which looks really elegant and classy: https://www.lovecrafts.com/en-gb/p/lace-top-knitting-pattern-by-linda-marveng

Knit: Pure Knit + Purl have a range of garment patterns that use laceweight yarn - look out for Happy Jumper, Pure Jumper, Sunday Drive, Gunpowder, and Herring: https://international.pureknitandpurl.com/patterns-and-kits

Knit: a lovely sweet cowl-neck top that calls for our Titus Lace (merino/silk): https://www.littletheorem.co.uk/store/p64/Lochnagar_Top_Knitting_Pattern.html

Knit: this one is a fairly loose gauge for laceweight (23sts in 10cm) but it does say it’s meant to be a lightweight top, and it looks smart so I thought I’d include it: https://www.lovecrafts.com/en-gb/p/atlantique-knitting-pattern-by-anne-hanson

Crochet: a very cool summer vest top with an A-line shape: https://www.lovecrafts.com/en-gb/p/relaxed-fit-tank-top-crochet-pattern-by-knitcroaddict

PATTERNS THAT WOULD WORK WITH 2PLY LACEWEIGHT HELD DOUBLE

Either with another strand of Bowland Lace, or with a fluffy laceweight yarn, e.g. Eldwick Lace (mohair/silk) or Lowther Lace (baby alpaca/silk):

Accessories:

Garments:

Knit: a jumper with a cabled panel on the front: 
https://www.lovecrafts.com/en-gb/p/pink-is-for-power-knitting-pattern-by-melanie-berg

 Knit: a tee with a lace yoke, and the body looks like it’s an A-line shape: https://www.lovecrafts.com/en-gb/p/alive-kicking-knitting-pattern-by-melanie-berg

Knit: a light and airy jumper (knitted at a loose gauge) which looks supremely comfy and cosy: https://www.lovecrafts.com/en-gb/p/the-air-sweater-knitting-pattern-by-dana-kikic-nemmert

Knit: I think you’d definitely want fluff as one of the yarns for this one as it’s quite a loose gauge - an all-over lace jumper: https://www.lovecrafts.com/en-gb/p/mbalenhle-pullover-knitting-pattern-by-biggerthanlifeknits

Knit: again, the gauge on this is 22sts in stocking stitch so I think one of the strands would definitely want to be fluffy in order to give a nice solid fabric for the cables on the front: https://www.lovecrafts.com/en-gb/p/glacier-ridge-knitting-pattern-by-jennifer-wood