Spinning Old Yarns

Here it is!  I am releasing SPINNING OLD YARNS!

First, a BIG, BIG thank you to my test knitters!  Cayenne, Alina, and Amy did a fantastic job giving me input and advice while writing the pattern.  So happy to work with you three!

Here are some of my thoughts as I have been thinking about this shawl :)

One of the favorite units regularly taught in USA history classes is Immigration.  The unit is dwelt upon for a long time and, to be honest, usually ends up as the essay topic on the final exam.  (If my memory serves me right, the absolute favorite is the Irish wave of immigration around the turn of the century, due to a potato famine in Ireland.  This then would lead us to a discussion on the horrific living conditions they faced in NYC, in contrast to "streets of gold".)

It is natural--nay, it is important that we do spend time focusing immigration.  Why?  Very simply, because most of the country is composed of peoples whose origins are from all around the world.  Each people group came (and even still is coming) in a different wave, started a new life among other various immigrants, and formed what we now affectionately call the "the melting pot."

I have German and English roots that settled in Canada and the Blue Mountains of Virginia.  There were Norwegian ancestors of mine who became pioneers to South Dakota.  Not too far back is a Swedish line.  And somewhere in there, we squeezed in minute percentages of Scottish, Irish, Italian, and French, beside a number of others that I can hardly remember!  Dare I even mention my great grandfather to the tenth, Miles Standish?

There are stories upon stories and picture albums stuffed of family faces.  I certainly could spin some yarns for you!  (Har-har...)

There are others more diverse than myself when it comes to their immigrant background.  Yet even still, the vibrancy and the diversity of my family's history is evident.  Immigrants, sailors, pioneers, farmers, city folk:  a mix indeed!

Borrowed and mixed:  that is this shawl.  Techniques from here, ideas from there, and design choices of my own underlie the entirety of the pattern.

The construction of the shawl is very simple, shaped only by increases and decreases.  There are no short rows, and the lace edging is knit at the same time as the body.  Since it uses size 8 needles with worsted weight wool, the shawl almost quite literally flows along!

The recommended yarn is 3 skeins of Cascade 220 worsted.  My test knitters did not use this yarn; in fact, all of them chose a different type!  Check it out:

Cayenne used a homespun roving, which she spun for herself in 3-ply.
Alina used Rowan Pure Wool Worsted.
Amy used Sylvan Spirit, a DK weight wool/tencel blend.

Borrowed, mixed, designed, and then modified!  Tradition and change are embraced.

And that, my friends, is Spinning Old Yarns.  Enjoy!