I'm quite pleased to announce the release of the Botanical Impressions Shawl, a one skein project piece that can be dressed up with beads and a picot edging or kept simple and beginner friendly without beads and a straight edge!
This piece has a rather interesting history. The yarn I received during the first Solidarity Swap, about a year ago now, which I quite enjoyed. I had never worked with The Farmers Daughter Fibers yarn before, although I was already following them on Instagram, so I was pretty excited to try a new dyer. AND it was this delightfully subtly speckled single (yay z twist!) in a soft, buttery yellow with flecks of purple, which perfectly reminded me of early spring in Williamsburg.
I began my Botanical Impressions paintings around that time (and I am seriously itching to get back to painting!) so I was immersed in this world of tiny, often overlooked beauty. The kid and I would go for walks down the trail behind our house or his school and discover a new flower (or other fun things) almost every time.
It was amazing and magical and transported me right back to my own childhood, playing in mounds of clover, seeking out those first spring beauties and bluets, and getting lost in imaginative play. As I write this, I'm watching the rain fall into puddles outside my kitchen window, remembering how my grandmother always said it was fairies dancing in the rain.
Here's a picture from the very first time we painted with flowers:
When I began this design, I was still somewhat disenchanted with the stitch pattern I was using. It is, essentially, double crochet mesh. But when worked in a gorgeous yarn, and sprinkled with beads to glitter and wink at you in the light, and then edged with a delicate picot crusted scallop, it suddenly took on its own sort of magic.
It's a simple pattern, in truth. Beads add a bit of interest, and the edging is a fun finish, either or both of which may offer a bit of challenge. Which is why I included both a photo tutorial to get you started and a pair of informal video tutorials to supplement the written instructions. And then, the day that I planned to publish, I decided to add a chart, too. It might be a bit superfluous, but if it helps just one person make this shawl with ease instead of confusion, then it's worth it!
So this one is full of resources, y'all. It's also been professionally tech edited by James Bartley and tested in Yarnpond. AND it comes with guidance on making a full sized version (with more yarn, of course) with beaded Vs of the same proportionate placement. Since it's worked from the point outwards, you could actually just work until you ran out of yarn, which is secretly my favorite way to crochet! As noted in the pattern, though, if you intend to work the edging, please reserve approximately 10% of your yarn for the last row and edging and if you want to avoid improvising at all, add or subtract total rows in multiples of six to ensure the edging works as written.
You can find the pattern for the Botanical Impressions Shawl on Ravelry and if you want to see more pictures, here's my project page, too.
Happy crocheting, y'all!
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