Photosynthesis Shawl

I’ve just finished nearly a month’s leave and on the very last day, I finished a shawl that I worked on almost exclusively for the last 16 days. Here it is. My Photosynthesis Shawl.

The yarn came to me late last year when I was at local festival, the Murrumbateman Field Day. In the alpaca pavilion I fell hard for this delicate, silvery grey yarn – it wasn’t at all scratchy – though it is hairy – and felt strangely cool in my hands, the way silk can. In the month before I chose what to make it into, it was a yarn that really never left my mind when I was contemplating my knitting. I had two skeins of what i think must be 4ply – about 200g worth – but no idea of yardage and for the life of me I can’t remember the stall I purchased it from. I had a card and misplaced it so I have no way of even telling you who produced it. I’ll be looking for them next year!

I chose this shawl for several reasons. The main one being I am very much over shawls that aren’t entirely lace. Those shawls with the middle section of stocking stitch? I really don’t find them that appealing. In the past I think I’ve chosen them because a good solid bout of plain knitting before the lace can make the shawl a good mindless piece. But I don’t really like them that much. All over lace is what i want and what struck me about this piece was the three distinct lace sections.

The small leaf centre, which fans out into larger leaves and then the border of open lace. It both stops the pattern being repetitive and creates and interesting look.

I would call this a medium to large shawl. Certainly it’s nowhere near the size of the many single skein shawls out there. It’s generous. I did it on 3.5mm needles and used about 180g. Two repeats of the middle section.

Knitting this was delightful. Despite it being sometimes almost 40degrees over recent weeks, I’ve found it to be good knitting for evenings (the lighter colour helps) or during the day with the curtains drawn – it was rare that i wasn’t able to knit in on my quiet days at home, the fan going. I really couldn’t fault it.

I love knitting lace over summer – it feels like a call to cooler days when shawls once again become my every day garment.

Throughout the terrifying bushfires that have ravaged the country, there’s been talk about how to prepare to evacuate. One night Sean and I were talking about our fire plan and he said ‘You’d have to make sure you grabbed your box of shawls. They’re so valuable.’ Now apart from the fact that I love that he sees their value, it made me realise I do have quite a collection now and even though there are some I’m not sure I’ll ever wear (what to do with them is a topic for another day) it’s wonderful to have a gorgeous collection of shawls, from the gauzy to the heavyweight. A shawl for almost every occasion.

And this one is just another to love and enjoy.

Helen