posted by Lily on knitting

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I must confess, I’m quite addicted to knitting shawls.  It all started this time last year with a few balls of Noro (the wrong ones, I might add) and this simple pattern.

Ahhh – so pretty.  But it flew off to warm the shoulders of a dear friend in the US.  So onto shawl number 2.  Different wool, different pattern, so pretty.  But on a cold and breezy day, it found its way onto old Nanny’s shoulders.

Now here I am in Melbourne and I know there is shawl weather just around the corner – time to finish the shawl I started late last year whilst still living in hot steamy Brisbane.  Yes I looked a bit of a goat sitting on the back porch with my lap piled with mountains of thick wool.  But knitting shawls is sooooooo good.

I used two different yarns for the shawl – some Patons Jet that I bought for $4 at a thrift store in a small country town in South East Queensland – Boonah.  Half of it had been knitted into a cardigan but there was no pattern in the bag and the sleeves were very small and tight so some frogging was in order.  Old Nanny – a prolific knitter and seller of yarn in the 1970s – says she hasn’t seen this particular Paton’s yarn label since the 1960s, so it could be at least 40 years old, perhaps a bit older.  The other yarn is a Noro Silk Garden.

It’s so magical to think of someone – most likely a lady – sitting somewhere comfy all those years ago, knitting a cardigan.  And now, her wool has stitched its way into my shawl, sitting side by side with the Japanese Noro, and fringed with a mix of Noro, dark brown Eco Wool leftover from my Nimbus (still not sewn up), and a glorious purple alpaca I bought from a dear little village on the Southern New South Wales coast during our summer drive to Melbourne.  She would never have imagined it!  I wouldn’t!

One wee downside is that the frogged wool knitted up a bit wonky.  I haven’t had this happen before and I thought the yarn would eventually relax, especially after blocking, but it didn’t.  Never mind – it will always serve as a reminder of the shawl’s provenance.  :-)

The fringe makes me laugh.  Often, when reading about the use of Noro’s Silk Garden, a knitter is advised to take wool from several parts of the ball in order to get an even spread of colour.  I consistently fail to do this – too lazy, too impatient – so the fringe on my shawl starts with a dark grey/brown, moves into a VIVID pink and then finishes with a soft grey/lilac.  Silly lily!

Oh well, it’s now resting, in all its thick, huge, snug glory on the sofa awaiting a chilly night when I shall wrap it round my shoulders and settle with some handwork. It covers all the way down to the small of my back and layers so nicely around my arms.  I like my shawls big.

Is there another shawl on the needles?  Of course!  I’m knitting one for my mum, so that when she visits in winter, she’ll be as snug as me!  Presently, she scorns a shawl as the ultimate old lady accessory (must be her age!) but I know, when the wind is whining, and the night frosty, she will gladly don the red, grey and French navy wool, laying in my basket. :-)