Reconsidering the Shawls
When we were introduced to Prayer Shawls, I had the idea that they would be put on, when a person wanted to pray. The two patterns given are both quite simple, based on triplets to help concepts in the prayer sheets we were supplied with ourselves. The dimensions are those of the tallit, the Jewish prayer shawl. Long, straight edged, fringed, narrow -- tallits come with a choice of widths, from 20 inches to 28 inches, depending on how much of the back is to be covered. A choice of lengths, too. From 60 to 74 inches.
So okay, I did a number of the crocheted and knit ones in the given patterns. Using Homespun gave the one the other members thought was the prettiest. When a person is being cared for, they're usually kept warm already; one of the things I felt was important was lightness and laciness, so that the shawl could be added to what's already on a person without weighing them down.
The ones I like best from that viewpoint were crocheted from a thin fuzzy strand, called boucle, in the standard pattern of three double crochet rows, one single crochet row, done with a big hook very loosely.
The standard knit pattern seemed heavy, it reminds me of a long ribbed look. K3, p3, forever. Knitting generally seemed to produce a dense result, and I looked through other people's pattern books.
For a couple of days, I was thoroughly infatuated with a difficult pattern that I couldn't internalize: 18 rows that make a delicious curving pattern, with yarnovers and various ways of decreasing. I've worked two samples that I'm going to use as little tablemats for sandwich plates. Now I'm working a similar sample to add to the set of a pattern that makes a popcorn effect.
But in the meantime, I've looked at pictures online of recipients draped in these Prayer Shawls, who look as though they have to wear the things all day. Not an addition that helps sanctify a short period, but something you're stuck in.
I should resume doing these in April. But I'm curious now, maybe the kind of shawl with shoulders knit into it, and with an all-day look, is more important to produce? By April, we should be able to hear from those who give them out, to find out how they're actually used?
Blocking, you said? That's probably just another way to refer to what you probably always do. Dunk a finished product awhile in clear coldish water. Take a towel from the drier, lay it on a table, lay the product on the towel, roll it up; cart it off to the bed with the shower curtain on it, unroll the product to dry there. Water shapes the stitches (of course, you do too, as you lay it out). The only steam blocking I'm aware of is what they used to do to fedoras --to men's hats.
So okay, I did a number of the crocheted and knit ones in the given patterns. Using Homespun gave the one the other members thought was the prettiest. When a person is being cared for, they're usually kept warm already; one of the things I felt was important was lightness and laciness, so that the shawl could be added to what's already on a person without weighing them down.
The ones I like best from that viewpoint were crocheted from a thin fuzzy strand, called boucle, in the standard pattern of three double crochet rows, one single crochet row, done with a big hook very loosely.
The standard knit pattern seemed heavy, it reminds me of a long ribbed look. K3, p3, forever. Knitting generally seemed to produce a dense result, and I looked through other people's pattern books.
For a couple of days, I was thoroughly infatuated with a difficult pattern that I couldn't internalize: 18 rows that make a delicious curving pattern, with yarnovers and various ways of decreasing. I've worked two samples that I'm going to use as little tablemats for sandwich plates. Now I'm working a similar sample to add to the set of a pattern that makes a popcorn effect.
But in the meantime, I've looked at pictures online of recipients draped in these Prayer Shawls, who look as though they have to wear the things all day. Not an addition that helps sanctify a short period, but something you're stuck in.
I should resume doing these in April. But I'm curious now, maybe the kind of shawl with shoulders knit into it, and with an all-day look, is more important to produce? By April, we should be able to hear from those who give them out, to find out how they're actually used?
Blocking, you said? That's probably just another way to refer to what you probably always do. Dunk a finished product awhile in clear coldish water. Take a towel from the drier, lay it on a table, lay the product on the towel, roll it up; cart it off to the bed with the shower curtain on it, unroll the product to dry there. Water shapes the stitches (of course, you do too, as you lay it out). The only steam blocking I'm aware of is what they used to do to fedoras --to men's hats.
posted by Molly McJohn @ 12:19 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home