I just started knitting a few years ago.

As such, when I first began looking up knitting patterns and yarn blogs and searching Ravelry, etc, several things struck me as really odd at first.

A few of those things were:

1. I didn’t get the whole sock knitting thing. I mean, people really knit socks?

2. I didn’t get the whole shawl knitting thing. Who wears shawls?

3. I thought triangle shawls were ugly.

After several years of knitting, here are my responses to my old self in regards to these issues.

1. After you knit a bunch of sweaters. And more mittens than you can use. And leg warmers. And hats start to spill out of your closet. And scarves abound. And everything else you can imagine… you start to think, “Hmmm. What can I knit that won’t take up much space, is fairly quick but still challenging enough to not bore me and I can actually use a bunch of?” And then it hit me. Socks!

Socks are fun to knit because of those reasons just mentioned and also because they are one of the things you can knit in any crazy color combo you like and nobody has to know! Shhh. They are your own secret burst of happiness in your shoes!

2. After galavanting around England (mostly London, some Cambridge and Dover) and seeing how everybody wore whatever the “bloody hell” they wanted, including luscious, cushy, scrunched, slouched, draping, dragging, you-name-it shawls and scarves, I finally realized… “Wow! People really DO wear these things! HURRAY!” And I had an intense urge the entire trip for a casual wrap to toss around my neck or drape over my arms if they got cold. So I started several shawl patterns upon my return and those will be released quite soon. I’m really in love with the whole knitted shawl thing now. I like to wear them backwards, with the point (center of the shawl) in the front and the rest wrapped up around my neck like a scarf or kerchief.

3. Hogwash. They are beautiful. Stunning. Amazing, heirloom works of art.

So thank you, London, for opening my eyes to this grand new world of shawls. I love ya for it. (And for many other reasons).

So I will be having many shawls to show off to you very soon, but I wanted to share some others I found on Ravelry and help to promote other designers and knitters. We are all pretty aware of those designs that shoot to the top of the popularity list on Ravelry (think Ishbel or Citron) so I went on the scout for some not quite so well known.

So to begin!

My First Lace Shawl I love the colors in this one! So muted and earthy, yet sophisticated. I can totally see this being worn with a cream tank, sandals and jeans on a windy day for a picnic.

my first lace shawl

Wings of a Butterfly I could not resist showing you this one. It is stunning! The color combination is so inspiring and just makes me happy! It really does remind me of butterflies, which I LOVE! 🙂 MMM!!

wings of a butterfly knitted shawl

All the Shades of Truth I’m normally not a color-block type of person, but something about the stark black and white and gray caught my eye and I thought, “HEY! That is COOL!” Very nice.

shades of truth shawl

Counterpoint This is another one done in black and white and I really think I would love to own this shawl! I can imagine it being worn in a variety of ways as the pictures show when you click on the link. NUMMY!

counterpoint black and white shawl scarf

Laurus A very cool leafy pattern and a lovely green shade make this a classic, beautiful shawl!

laurus hand knit shawl pattern

On The Right This one caught my eye and made me take a second look. I love stripes. LOVE them. And this combines them into a funky way, giving visual interest to the piece. This would need to be worn with something quite plain, like a solid top and jeans or a solid dress to avoid overwhelming the look with too much patterning. Mmm. Really awesome.

striped on the right knit shawl

Four Winds Wrap Oh, this looks so warm and scrunchy and cozy! This would be great knit in hand spun yarn!

four winds wrap knitted shawl

Of The Moon I couldn’t resist showing you this one! I love her face and the whole picture! And the scarf is too delicious!

of the moon hand knitted shawl

Lotus Ring Whoa. I am wildly in love with charcoal gray. It’s just so darn SEXY of a color. Masculine, yet feminine. And this was done in quiviut, which is dear to my heart, as we have the lovely muskoxen close to where I live. I’m nearly speechless. This pattern, the fact that I love lotus blossoms, the color, the quiviut…what can I say? Yum!

lotus ring qiviut gray shawl

Ridge and Furrow Rainbow Triangular Shawl Wow. 56 different colors of Wollmeise sock yarn were used in this delicious rainbow shawl. I love colors. I love rainbows. It’s got stripes. What’s not to like? Wowowow.

ridge and furrow rainbow triangle shawl

There were so many more shawls I wanted to share with you, so if you enjoyed these, let me know and I will happily create more posts like this for you! And I can do it on other items as well: Sweaters, socks, scarves, mittens/gloves, baby things, etc. I don’t have children, so normally don’t do much with children’s knitwear (unless a family member or close friend is having a baby), but I’m open to anything!

If you like any of the above patterns, I encourage you to purchase the pattern and give it a go! (Some of them are free) I’m not in any way affiliated with these designers; I merely wanted to share their beautiful work with you! They inspired me and I hope they inspire you!

I hope you get to knit something fabulous today. I created the cloud image at the top of this post, as I was inspired by the joy I get from blogging about knitwear and knitting itself…anything to do with this wonderful craft and I hope and pray it inspires you to seek out what you love and do it relentlessly with joy and abandon!

Be blessed!

Peace & Light

C.

 

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