If you follow this blog regularly, you'll know I love a good shawl any time of year. Summer shawls are, however, particularly sweet - portable in the making, easy in the wearing (coordinates with most anything) and extremely functional for all those times when summer temperatures fluctuate. It just might be the perfect summer accessory.
My ver-sion this sea-son is a modified stole/crescent - the bottom gently increases on one side and then decreases on the other, not unlike the bottom of a boat. I was also after a fabric that would be light and airy, yet a nice mix of texture and lace. The easily-memorized pattern repeat in the shawl's body (worked first from side to side) creates a subtlely-textured "stripe" that takes to variegated yarns really well.I love the balance of billowy textured body and lace edging - a perfect blend of form and function. I worked this up in two different fibers (wool and tencel, both laceweight) held together. The tencel provides lovely sheen and the wool just enough structure. I can, however, also easily see this shawl in lace- or fingerweight silk, linen, bamboo, hemp or cotton for summer (or any blend thereof), and definitely alpaca or even mohair for a winter treatment - it's very versatile.
This design, I'm happy to report, is currently leading in the voting for the next JAL (join-a-long) I'll be hosting in my Ravelry group. Do feel free to vote and then join us, won't you?
