In the late eighteenth century, textile manufacturers in England and Scotland began to imitate the Kashmir shawl, popular among British ex-patriots living in India, with the town of Paisley taking the lead in creating a five-color loom that could weave reasonable machine-made copies of the handwoven originals at a fraction of the cost.

The name paisley became synonymous with the teardrop/lozenge design (known as a boteh or pine motif) and the shawl (from the Persian word shal, describing a type of woven fabric) was a necessary object in every fashionable woman's wardrobe. As clothing styles changed, the shape and length of paisley shawls adapted. During Jane Austen's time, a long stole-like shawl was most common, worn across the back and draped around each elbow. As hem circumferences widened, the shawl moved to a more square shape, often worn folded into a triangle around the shoulders and trailing down the back. Common among all paisley shawls, though, was the repeating motif of botehs across the bottom edges.

Finished Size: 56" long and 18 ¼" wide.
Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere (70% wool, 20% cashmere, 10% nylon; 400 yd [366 m]/114 g): bronzed lake, 3 skeins.
Yarn Weight: #2 - Fine
Needles: Size 6 (4 mm). Adjust needle size if necessary to obtain the correct gauge.
Notions: Waste yarn and crochet hook for Provisional CO, tapestry needle.
Gauge: 26 sts and 29 rows = 4" in Body chart.
Originally Published: Jane Austen Knits Summer 2012