Jessica’s Shawl

We were delighted in 2011 when my nephew Ryan introduced his bride-to-be to our family. We were especially delighted (and slightly scared) that she seemed to fit right in. I offered to knit a shawl for her — not specifically a wedding shawl but a shawl in honor of her wedding. After electronic discussion, she chose exactly what I hoped she would choose: a Faroese shawl made from a red yarn that I had purchased in Italy.

The yarn: Pura Lana Zephir from Albozzi Filati Alma, Torino, Italy; 2/25; 1,250 meters/100 grams. The color is red most of the time, but in some lights looks like a deep magenta/rose. The shop has a huge selection (as you can see from the Web site) and the yarn is beautiful. If/when I return to Torino, I will definitely buy more.

The pattern is Barbara, from Stahman’s Scarves and Shawls by Myrna Stahman. I used 3.25mm needles. The only change I made to the shawl was to attach the border with an SSK instead of a K2tog. Just my preference.

Jessica tried on the shawl before it was finished to check the length.

The shawl used about 1,100 yards. With the remainder, I made a scarf for Jessica using Sivia Harding’s Little Leaf Lace Scarf pattern, one of my favorites for relatively small amounts of yarn. Finished size is 5 inches by 68 inches.

Jessica, I hope you like wearing these as much as I enjoyed knitting them!

The wedding, in 2012, was lovely.

Jeanne's Shawl

My friend Jeanne thought that her 80-something-year-0ld mother would enjoy having a shawl. Seemed like a good idea to me.

Eventually, Jeanne selected a Faroese shawl because the shaping would stay on her mother's shoulders better than a triangle or a rectangle. Then she choose the Alka pattern from Myrna Stahman's book on Faroese shawls and seaman's scarves.

The yarn presented a challenge: soft, not too heavy, not too light, no wool, machine wash and dry. With the help of Ravelry's yarn index, I found that Knit Picks CotLin, a DK-weight cotton-linen blend, met my requirements. Jeanne chose the color Lantana.

Knitting on US7 needles, I used about nine skeins, 1,100 yards. I used the leftover yarn to make a few face cloths for Jeanne.

Jeanne gave the shawl to her mother for Christmas and it was a hit. Her mom seemed quite taken with the idea that someone would hand-knit a shawl just for her. She joyfully modeled it before all of her friends and relatives (that's not her in the photo, that's me).

A Big, Comfy Shawl

Everyone needs a big, comfy shawl. My latest is the Alix shawl by Myrna Stahman by way of Debbie Macomber.

• Yarn: Mountain Colors Bearfoot (superwash wool, mohair, nylon) in Lupine, 3 skeins (I had about 5 yards left)
• Needles: US7
• Finished size: 46 inches center back

The pattern as written finishes with a seed stitch border. I decided to finish with the Catharina border from Myrna's "Stahman's Shawls & Scarves." (Not an original idea; I had seen a version with this border.)

Both the Catharina and Alix shawls use Myrna's variation on the Smiling Diamonds pattern from Barbara Walker's first Treasury. Catharina is a Faroese-style shawl; Alix is a triangle shawl. Catharina was the one of the first shawls I ever made, so I was familiar with the edging. The only tricky bit was adjusting the attachments at the center point to center the bottom scallop.

What's nice about this shawl is that you can knit it in just about any yarn. I've seen it in the finest lace weight to much heavier yarns. I've seen it in solids and variegated yarns. It's easy enough for beginning lace knitters but interesting enough for veteran lace knitters.