Oh what splendid Labor Day weekend I had. I dove in and didn’t come out until yesterday. Elves and orcs and dwarves, warlocks and hunters and warriors. No, I didn’t go to a Lord of the Rings film festival, I fell headfirst into World of Warcraft. Probably some of you know this game, maybe even play it yourselves. It involves struggle and survival in another world where you can be one of any number of sentient races and take one of many different jobs - many of them using magic.
It can be a time sink, but played judiciously, it can be a lot of fun. And over a long weekend with no other plans, it’s just the thing :)
What, knitting? You’re asking me about knitting?
How’s this?
This is started with a garter stitch strip - you all know I’ve been playing with this for a while now :) On a shawl that’s started like this, this strip acts as a means to curve the shawl around the neck and shoulders. For some pieces, the curve may be very slight - like Kiri. On others, such as the Moonlight Sonata, the curve is much more pronounced and the shawl has almost a crescent shape.
Here, because of both the garter strip and the center panel, I got something of a bat-wing shape which just charmed the stuffing out of me because I’m fond of bats - poor, maligned little things. This shape should be ideal for keeping the shawl on the shoulders. For a scarf, the single panel would probably be enough. For a shoulder shawl, I might be tempted to use two repeats of the stitch pattern - depending upon yarn type and needle size, of course. For a full blown, all-enveloping winter coat of a shawl, perhaps three repeats - and maybe a hood? Hmmmmmm…
I would probably make this in fingering weight yarn although worsted weight yarn, larger needles and a different stitch pattern would yield a wonderfully warm outdoor garment. Hey, some of us don’t like coats :) The sample above was made out of dyed sock yarn on size 6 US (4.25 mm) needles and that seems to work nicely - maybe even a size 7 US (4.5 mm) needle would work and give a slightly lacier appearance.
Lace - the final frontier…
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oh just gorgeous and I love the colour
I love the bat wings! With the center panel the shape of this shawl is reminiscent of a faroese shawl. They tend to fit much better then the more popular triangular shawls.
Susan - Thanks :) It’s just the swatch. The yarn I have in mind for this is only a tiny bit lighter and heathery - but it’s basically the same color.
Opal - The Faroese thought occurred to me too. I know it’s silly, but I don’t like that trapezoid shape in the back. Functionally, it’s a great thing that, just as you said, helps you to actually wear the shawl instead of just carrying it around :) But the shape just looks funky to me. I’m hoping the straight panel and the garter strip start will perform the same function!
I love your pattern for the shawl. It looks so much more balanced with that more ‘determined’ center. The resemblance to bat wings is cool. And bats are wonderful, especially considering all the mosquitos they eat!
Lydia - I think it looks more balanced too :) I’m probably not going to be starting this immediately but having worked out what I want to do, I’m looking forward it.
And way cool that there’s another bat lover out there :) The little bug-eaters will always be welcome around my home!
Robbyn, I LOVE it!!! It is truly gorgeous!
As for bats, remind me to send you a pic I took last year. At our last place, on the lake, I used to love watching the bats come out at night, dipping and swooping to catch mosquitoes. Amazing creatures.
Ev - I’m a little “batty” about the shape myself and I think the lace works nicely :)
I would love to see your picture!!!
It DOES Look like bat wings---but it also looks like gargoyle wings! ( I have a thing for gargoyles, ever since I found out their whole job was to chase the bad stuff away--)
If you read SpinOff Magazine--there’s a wonderful article about knitting dragon wings--and they look like that too…
Lisa - Gargoyles, yes - I can see that :) I’ll have to chase down that Spin-off article - sounds great!
i love that center panel too- it really draws the eye to the actual pattern that is in the shawl-
bats! cute little mousey things aren’t they? there are jillions of them around here, and just before sunset they will swoop from the heavily wooded areas and fly like a great dark cloud down to the lake- when they all move then, you can feel the air vibrate from their wing movements and they make little ‘cheeping’ sounds- too bad they tend to get such a bad rep as they are responsible for keeping us slightly less ‘buggy’ than we would be otherwise- between being ‘buggy’ or ‘batty’ i’ll take the bats anyday!
stay happy-
Barb - It’s so good to know there are other bat appreciaters out there :) We have tons of them up here too - especially this close to the river. We’ve even had a couple get in the apartment once in a while - God knows how! The cats were delighted, of course, and Myria and I ran ourselves crazy trying to catch the little things before the cats could. We were successful in both cases - out the window they went! Gently, of course :)
