Thursday, August 31, 2006

Circular Shawl from Doily Pattern Part Deux (Are we channeling someone?)

For those still interested in making a circular shawl from a doily pattern I have a couple more suggestions. You can, of course, do what Meg Swanson did for that circular shawl she made in "A Gathering of Lace" . That would be the "Spanish Peacock Shawl". She made it on really big needles, about size US 10, added additional repeats of the pattern and finished with a lace edge from Barbara Abbey's "Knitted Lace". If you got the most recent Knit Picks Catalogue (Fall 2006) which I got today, the one with the black and white sweater and portable magnetic board on the front, you will see on page 44 that there are several circular shawls that were adapted from patterns published by Gloria Penning. I pulled out my copies and found the "Rona" pattern in my copy of "Danish Lace Treasures" which featured the work of Anna Marie Jensen and was published by Gloria Penning. The original was done with # 30 cotton and with US 0 needles and ended up 33 inches in diam. The doily had 153 rows ending with a crochet edge. The version in Knit Picks looks very much like the original but, according to the ad, is now knit on size US 5 and ends up 52" in diam using "Alpaca Cloud".

These shawls are circular, not more than 360 degrees, so block out flat. Very pretty. Check out that Knit Picks catalogue!