Tuesday, April 28, 2009

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.




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