Sorry about my absence (again) last week, but I was sick. Crazy sick. Stupid sick. I had the wickedmeankiller cold that ate Manhattan. This wasn’t just a cold, it was a Cold…dripping with icicles, frostbite, and phlegm. I do not exaggerate. I could breathe not – not through my sinuses filled with cement – not through my lungs filled lined with whatever blackish evil crud clogs bathtub drains. There was no relief, no cure. It was bad.

But I’m mostly better now, so yay! Let’s move on…

Shawls. Lacy, colorful, intricate, webby, wrappy, knitted masterpieces of loveliness. Ravelry, Instagram, and Pinterest abound with spectacular examples of prideful knitting prowess. They are a sight to behold.

Meh. Who cares?

That, folks, has been my prevailing attitude, since, well…forever. I have always eschewed shawl knitting. After all, I’m not a lacy, frilly romantic type. Nor am I an 80-year-old grandmother in a rocking chair, or a granola-munching earth-mother. Why oh why of why would I waste valuable sweater knitting time on something, although gorgeous and challenging, I would nevereverneverever be caught dead or alive wearing? Sense it made not to me (or Yoda).

HOWever…I am changing my tune. After all, there are shawls and there are shawls, yes? I can still admire the lacy, earth-mother, rocking chair-esque designs from afar and choose to knit brilliant, sophisticated, charming, wrappy accessories that flatter and speak to me. Allow me to demonstrate…

About two years ago, I broke my shawl embargo (all due to the persistent genius of Carol Feller) and knit this baby:

This is Carol Feller’s Penrose Tile. It’s a beauty, I’ll admit.

I wore it to work once or twice and received praise and admiration. I wore it to an event recently and received praise and admiration. Still, I felt mildly uncomfortable, because I was wearing, well, a shawl.

I know, I need help. Don’t fret, it’s coming.

 

 

As you know, I recently travelled to New York City for Vogue Knitting Live (oh yeah, and sightseeing and whatnot). Naturally, I needed something smallish and easy to knit on the plane. I was in a scramble in the few weeks before the trip to finish a test knit I had committed to in mid-December – a DK weight pullover with a hood (I know, I need to be certified. I’m not going to argue). I wrapped up the test knit the day before our flight and had to choose a travel project under IMMENSE pressure.

Back in November sometime, Interweave had kits for the Beacon Shawl on sale. I had admired the Beacon Shawl since its appearance in Knitscene Accessories 2015. I really liked the teal, and was feeling brave about breaking out of my comfort zone and knitting with yellow for the first time ever in my wholeentirelife, so I bought the kit. It’s modular garter stitch, and on the small side for a shawl, so it seemed like the right choice for my bring-with project. I’ve noticed that I’m often most attracted to shawls that are mostly or all garter stitch, so there was a good chance that I would at least…not…hate it.

I worked on it to and fro New York, and made myself finish it within a few days of our return. I slung it around my boring teal top, popped a snazzy shawl pin into place and… Wow! It looked great. Queue my shawl epiphany.

 

How about that? Not lacy, not grandma, not earth mother…all deco-esque me. Love.

I’m starting to see the light.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, as you may recall from my last post, while at VK Live, I became enamoured with Amor Esperanza’s CoLab Shawl, and I bought pattern and yarns and all things required to knit said project. The very minute the Beacon Shawl was off my needles, I got busy:

To say I am thrilled with its progress is an underunderunderstatment. I am fully infatuated. I stare and stare and stare at it and think of all the magnificent buildings I stared and stared and stared at in New York City. It’s genius. It’s sublime. It’s my New York shawl.

Congratulate me: I am officially cured of my shawl-a-phobia.

 

In case you want to, as my friend Kim would say, “creep” my project pages, here are my Ravelry links:

Penrose Tile

Beacon Shawl

Colab Shawl

In other news, I have started an uber-adorable toddler sweater for my cousin, once-removed (apparently I can also refer to him correctly as my nephew…go figure). This is a teaser:

Crazy cute, right? Should be well into it by next post, so stay tuned.
Have a great, knitful week!

Cheers,

Knicoleknits