ReCrochetions: Hooked on Hand Dyed: Rowan Berry Shawlette

Sunday, August 10, 2014

Hooked on Hand Dyed: Rowan Berry Shawlette

I decided to release my Hooked on Hand Dyed pattern for August a little bit late this month. Today my daughter Rowan would have been six years old. The Rowan Tree in our back yard, planted during her memorial service six years ago, is now covered with clusters of tiny red berries. Each year her tree grows taller and bears more clusters of berries than the year before.

The rowan berries remind me of the picot stitches trimming each of the lacy shells along the edging of this shawlette. Even the tone on tone mauve of the hand dyed silky merino yarn (selected by dyer Stephanie Fregosi of Three Fates Yarns) brings to mind the color of berries. This particular yarn is a one ply 70% superwash merino and 30% silk, which I absolutely LOVE working with AND wearing! But the pattern could be worked in any fingering weight yarn, on a large hook for a quick project.

I was inspired to design my first asymmetrical shawl by my friend Monica, who loves to make shawls more than anything else. She pointed out that asymmetrical shawls seem to be very popular right now, but there are not nearly as many crocheted ones as there are for knitters. My goal was to create a shawl where the edging would be worked at the same time as the gradually increasing body of the shawl.

I hunted through my various stitch dictionaries for edging patterns that were worked up and down rather than around and around. Then spent an entire afternoon experimenting, pulling out, and reworking the stitches to determine how I could create a variation on this patterns that adds double crochet stitches to the center, while maintaining a lacy shell edging, AND creating a gentle curve off to one side. I was very happy with the results, and am please to present the Rowan Berry Shawlette, which is now available on Ravelry.