Here in the South, we seldom get as much as one snowfall in a winter, and then it barely covers the ground. If I’m going to knit, I have to find things to knit which are lightweight or not worn. I knitted quite a few doilies, but with those my grandmother gave me and those I’d knitted or crocheted, I had plenty. I finally discovered shawl knitting, and I’m enjoying it.
Yesterday dawned clear and cold here in So. Carolina, and I decided that since my husband was gone for the day, I’d have the living room free, and I could dress one of the shawls I have had waiting for some months. I finished the Seascape shawl from Fiber Trends back on Aug. 22, 2004. My daughter gave me some beautiful violet Jaggerspun Zephyr for Christmas, 2003. I knitted most of it, and then I ran out of yarn. It was a while before my dealer could get more in, so to keep my hands busy, I started the Peace Shawl by Evelyn Clark.
The Seascape is the first shawl I’ve knitted that is a half-circle. It was an easy knit. I enjoyed the little shell designs popping out as I went along, and I particularly liked the starfish. I didn’t enjoy knitting feather and fan which represents the waves on the bottom of the shawl, but I love the looks of it, so I stuck with it. I find feather and fan kind of monotonous, for some reason. I was reminded yesterday when I dressed it that I get tired of pinning out the fans at the bottom too. Nevertheless, I finished it, and it needed dressing.
Dressing Makes a Difference
Now, dressing is important. Without it, a shawl looks like a ball of nothing. Moreover, shawls can look very different depending on how they are dressed. I had some confirmation of that recently. I’d sent Mother my Pacific Northwest Shawl, and she got a Patternworks catalog and discovered that very shawl pattern in it. Their shawl, done in gray, was dressed to have an undulating edge at the bottom instead of the points I’d done on mine. Mother thought I made a change to the pattern, and she wanted to know how I’d done that. (I don’t know that Mother has ever changed a knitted pattern.) I had to do a lot of convincing then to get her to believe that it was the same shawl and the same pattern the whole way through. The difference was in the dressing. This is the one I made.
Pattern: Pacific Northwest Shawl by Evelyn Clark from Fiber Trends.
Yarn: Jaggerspun Zephyr in Blueberry
Needles: Size 6 US
Size: 72″ along the top, 41.5″ down the center back
I found another Pacific NW shawl that is dressed still another way. You can see Wendy’s beautiful version to see for yourself. I wish I’d seen Wendy’s version first, I’d have dressed mine like that too. It’s very beautiful. Anyway, after an hour and a half of crawling around on the floor pinning, I finished dressing the Seascape shawl. I love that color, and I recommend the pattern.
I don’t know why I keep winding up doing so many shawls with a water theme. I did the Creatures of the Reef, this one (Seascape), and the Pacific NW has water in it. I also bought the Baltic Sea pattern to do one of these days, and I’m looking at Shoalwater. Yes, I know. It has the feather and fan pattern in it. LOL!