In a recent swap, I sent a shawl that I made some time ago to my swap partner. It was a great pattern, a great colour, but… alpaca yarn. After knitting this shawl, I discovered that my neck doesn’t handle alpaca well, especially when it gets warm. So, the shawl was hardly ever worn, and now it found a great new home with a fellow knitter and friend!
I was inspired, though, to knit this pattern again. It’s called the “Mountain Breeze Faroese Stole” and it is knit almost entirely in garter stitch (with some yo’s, ssk’s and k2tog’s for the lace section). The nice thing about Faroese shawls is that they are good at staying on your shoulders. The shawl is a bit more than a semi-circle, and there is a straight section that falls over your back, while the wings settle over your shoulders.
I also still had one of my first purchases from Posh Yarn: two skeins of Sylvia Sock, a luscious combination of merino and silk, in colours that remind me of dragonflies and beetle shields. Iridescence of greens, blues, purples and all kinds of different shades, hues and tints of those colours. I had been pondering what to make with it, to make the yarn shine. The pattern shouldn’t be too complex, as that would make the overall look very busy. Now, the two clicked together in my mind. The humble Faroese pattern with the poshy yarn would make a great shawl with a brilliant drape because of the silk.
I knitted it quite quickly, which was also due to the fact that you start with the edging, then you pick up the body stitches, and the rows become shorter and shorter towards the end. This construction really invites you to knit “just one more row!” all the time. It’s finished and blocked now, and I’m a happy camper. I already showed it off a bit at the Dutch Knitting Days, and was glad that I brought both this shawl and the Rockefeller, because it was so cold in the train that I had the Rockefeller around my neck and the Dragonfly cape on my lap to stay warm…
