Old Shale Knitting Pattern

In 2020 I devised a Modified Old Shale Knitting Pattern, modeled after a sweater worn by Taehyung of BTS, is based on a classic knit motif called Old Shale. The Old Shale pattern used on Tae’s sweater is unique because of the rows in between the one row of chevron pattern that makes up an Old Shale knitting pattern, but otherwise, it’s just the classic Old Shale pattern.

Old Shale is a classic knitting pattern and comes from the lace and eyelet family of knit stitches. Its origin can be traced to the Shetland Islands where the word “shell” is pronounced more like “shael”. Following along logically, ‘shell’ became ‘shale’, and that’s how Old Shale got its name.

Sometimes, the term Old Shale is used interchangeably with the Feather and Fan pattern, but once you look at them side by side, they are different.

Northern Lace has a fascinating side-by-side comparison of the two patterns and once you read over it, the differences between the two patterns cannot be denied. They are not interchangeable and produce vastly different fabrics.

Basic Old Shale Pattern

Let’s get down to it. The basic pattern is as follows:

The pattern is knit over a multiple of 18 stitches. A sample could be 18, 36, 54, 72, 90 stitches or more, depending on what you want to make. This long repeat is perfect for blankets or sweaters, which you often see the Old Shale motif used in garments and afghans.

Stitches Required:

knit
purl
k2tog – knit 2 stitches together
yo – yarn over, bringing the yarn to the front of the work

Basic Pattern:

Row 1: Knit

Row 2: Purl

Row 3: *K2tog 3 times, (yo knit 1) 6 times, k2tog 3 times, repeat from *

Row 4: Knit

These 4 rows are the complete pattern repeat.

Old Shale Variations

There are many Old Shale motif variations. Because it’s a really versatile pattern. A few years ago, a knitting group called the Greater Birmingham Fiber Guild completed a thorough examination of the Old Shale and its variations.

They collaborated on a project to knit over 40 variations of the Old Shale motif and document the different fabrics small changes to the pattern repeat produces. Resulting was an incredible array of Old Shale variations, really cool stuff. What’s more, it’s available as a free ebook download on Ravelry, something I highly recommend you download and enjoy. I think a sampler blanket of all the variations would be stunning.

Not surprisingly, the pattern I figured out after watching Taehyung is one such variation. To figure the pattern out I played around, modifying the number of rows of knit and purl in between the one row of eyelet stitches. But the general pattern is the same as the classic Old Shale knitting pattern.

It’s pretty cool how slight changes in a pattern can make such different fabrics. That’s why knitting and crochet can have almost endless possibilities! If you are looking for your next knitting adventure you could find one on Hobbii! See the Knitting Patterns on Hobbii.com