Monday, June 20, 2016

From My Library - Folk Shawls

Not because I am a fan of Cheryl and also know her, but this is one my most favorite books in my Library.  Whenever, I am looking for a shawl to knit, this is my go to book.


It is divided up into sections of shawls from around the world, with an intro of the cultures from where the shawls were designed for.  There are great shawls to knit for all skill levels.  The Simple Garter Prairie Shawl is a nice shawl for a beginner or if you need something to knit in public.  I knit this once on a plane for a February Mexico vacation and again a couple of years ago, for our Girls Holiday Bash for one of the centerpiece prizes.

I am thinking, in its simplicity, this would be another nice one for Hospice.


The Wool Peddler Shawl must be the one that I have knit the most from the book or have in WIPS.

My first one was a ruffled version out of Kauni yarn.  It, too, went as a centerpiece prize a few years back at the Girls Holiday Bash.  It was the first Wool Peddler I ever finished, but not the last one that I knitted.


Next up in the Wool Peddler was a simple version without  lace or ruffle.  I found the yarn in Memphis when the kids lived there.  The yarn was bought for something else, but, became a Wool Peddler.  It was one of the first shawls that I can say I really wore a lot after I first knit it.  It is more of a shoulder shawl, but I got a lot of mileage out of it.


Wool Peddler was also the first shawl that I knit for Hospice.  I used Pacific yarn and I like to think it was the start of pretty knitting for Hospice.


So, if you haven't figured it out by now, you can see that Wool Peddler is definitely a fave.  And if not, I have a couple on the needles too from this pattern.  I love the way each new yarn makes such a different shawl.


Although, at the moment Wool Peddler's Shawl is one of my favorites, there are other great ones as well.  I knit on the Bird's Nest Shawl a couple of years ago at camp.  It has a great pattern repeat that was easy to knit in a camp surrounding.  This wrap/shawl is a fave of mine to take to air condition places because you can really wrap up in it.


The yarn is Cheryl's Just Beautiful Alpaca and you know how I love Alpaca!


The next shawl became a real fave because of the yarn.  A couple of years back, a dear knitter LindaP at Knit Camp gave me this most wonderful yarn that she spun.


The following year, I knit it into the Feather and Fan Triangle Shawl from Folk Shawls.


It was pure joy to knit with and it warms my heart every time I wear it.


Or think about the gift.


And last but not the least of the shawls in the book, I've got another on the needles for Hospice.  It is the Kimono Shawl out of Rylie.  It is on tap to be finished this Summer for the Summer of Shawls, but first there are a couple in line before it.



There are so many more shawls in this book that I want to knit!  Like Cheryl's Knitted Jacket book from several years back when I knit almost every jacket from the book, I really believe before it is all said and done that I will want to knit most of these shawls as well.  I think the book may be out of print, but if you can still get your hands on a copy, I'd say go for it right now!  Before you can't.  This book gets a 10 out of 10 for me!

Happy Summer Solstice Everyone!


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