For this, the first of the Throwback Thursday posts we are casting our minds back to 2015 and the 5th anniversary of Knit With Attitude. The aptly named Spitalfields Shawl takes its name from Maya’s beginnings with Knit With Attitude. Maya started her shop as a stall at the Spitalfield’s Market with two boxes of yarn. The Spitalfield’s Shawl was launched at The Great London Yarn Crawl of 2015.

This graphic two colour shawl made up of garter stitch stripes and simple lace was designed by Natalie Selles. She says of the design:

‘I wanted a shawl with strong graphic lines to represent the ethical stance that Maya has taken with the shop. The shawl is very easy as it is written in garter stitch. It is perfect for new knitters who want to expand their skills to some easy lace, or for experienced knitters looking for an easy knit.’

Choose two contrasting colours in a solid and a variegated and watch them play together. Knit from the top corner with increasing rows, relaxing blocks of garter stitch are interspersed with a simple yarn over lace. Then the garter stripes take another angle with simple short rows. This design would make a great shawl project for someone looking to get their head around simple lace and shorts rows and would be ideal for an enthusiastic beginner.

Knit in DesignEtte a 4ply raw silk. Two of the solid Hokkaido and one of the variegated Shikoku. Designette is a company that is focused on sustainability with their yarn production, and ensures that their yarns are made in countries with strict and enforced labour laws. Raw silk differs from other silks in that it contains sericin, which is usually removed by boiling the silk in soapy water. This protein is produced by the silk worm when making its cocoon and gives the fibre a matte finish and almost papery feel. It is also is more nubbly with an interesting slightly uneven texture.

To celebrate this design we have put some kit colour suggestions together. Find some ideas below and click through to shop the kits or come up with your own variations of Hokkaido and Shikoku.

Aquarium – Shikoku Tropical Fish x 1, Hokkaido Nezumi x 2. Watery blues and greens sit nicely against a neutral grey. A cool combination that will really highlight the variegated colours.

City Lights – Shikoku Raspberry x 1, Hokkaido Black x 2. A striking combination using a strong black background colour. The variegated yarn will really pop out and give a punk vibe.

Riverbed – Hokkaido Blue Bird x 1, Hokkaido Sepia x 2. All solids here, but I think the warm tones of the Sepia really compliments the Blue Bird. A really calming colour combination.

Raspberry Jam – Shikoku Candy x 1, Hokkaido Salvia x 2. A very subtle combination but still bright and bold. This will really highlight the texture of the shawl.

If you now feel encouraged to start off your very own Spitalfields Shawl, you’ll get 10% off the kit when entering the code ‘spitalfieldsthrowback’ in your cart before checkout. The offer ends at midnight UK time tomorrow Friday September 27th .