Shawl knitting in da Pinas

I have a feeling I already mentioned this in my knitting blog elsewhere.... but anyway, it's been a major challenge for me to look for shawl patterns online that do not involve lace knitting, since i've decided that lace is not my major passion as far as knitting is concerned.

Much of the shawl patterns online are designed either for "heirloom" show-off lace pieces, to be worn on formal occasions such as weddings, or for warming the body like a huge blanket. I suspect that no knitter living in a tropical climate, like me, has ever posted a non-lace shawl pattern online. Just a suspicion.

So I've had to make my own patterns in which I come up with triangular shawls that can be used on cool summer nights, or when one has to go out into a hot sunny day and beat the heat inside an airconditioned refuge. When i finally finish one such shawl I'll write up the pattern and post it online, although I doubt if there are many takers for such patterns :-)

For now, I'm being mindful of Saturn Retro making me seek closure in creative projects I've long wanted to do (technical details: natal Saturn in 5th House of Creativity, retro in 11th House of Hopes and Wishes). This means setting aside my plans for knitting tropical shawls for Bora, except... for me! I had long wanted to knit myself a shawl, though I do have one already using Laines du Nord's Zahir--in fact, to use up my remaining yarn, i'm making another one, rectangular this time, in seed stitch.

But I have no shawl yet in tencel yarn, so that's what I'm doing. Tencel or lyocell is like rayon, made from tree cellulose, and is absorbent like cotton but soft as silk. I'm planning to knit myself at least 2 triangular shawls in tencel, one in black and the other in red.

Tropical shawls, this time

Inspired by my forthcoming foray to Boracay, I decided to knit up my lovely ribbon yarn Zahir, by Laines du Nord (pic). Finally. it's now all done and it turned out unexpectedly well.

I had long wanted to use this Spanish shawl pattern in an old knitting book called "Knitting for the Home". Apparently for the author, the Spanish shawl can also be used to drape over a piano or sofa... her triangular shawl had drop-stitches which are the best to use to show off ribbon yarn.

And so, instead of doing an easy rectangular shape, I gamely went into knitting my first-ever triangle shawl. I'm just too lazy to take pics. Someday when I'm wearing it over my string bikini...which means, never. Ha ha ha. I still have some Zahir yarn left, about 3 balls more...maybe for a rectangular piece this time.

Anyway, having been done with the shawl, and happy with the result, I had a brilliant flash of inspiration ...why not knit more shawls for tropical weather, and try to sell them in Boracay in June? I can also sell them to anyone anywhere who wants a nice light cover-up for the tropics.

I decided to use up my stash of tencel yarn, since it drapes well, it's soft and absorbent... perfect for tropical shawls. I'm starting with the dark green yarn cone, and I hope to finish it in a week. I've experimented with patterns that can use either stockinette seed stitch in the body, with a nice lacy border. So far so good.

Will I actually want to sell these shawls? They could all be mine, in various wonderful colors.