This is a triangular knitted shawl, 98” wide at the top and 78” long, in garter stitch, knitted from the top down, starting with 320 stitches on size 8 needles.
The shawl was inspired by an Italian textured yarn called Puff, 100% nylon, with a wonderful hand. I bought a couple balls of each of 3 color ways, all of the yarns with reds in common but ranging from lavender through various reds and light orange.
To that base, I chose yarns from my stash, not worrying about the fiber content, but picking the yarns by color and texture. Thus the shawl contains, in addition to the classic wool, silk, cotton and linen, more unusual fibers: nettle, banana, lyocell, and a variety of man-made fibers, including sparklers, usually present in the textured yarns.
The shawl was knitted for the Roc Day 2008 fashion show followed by the Make It Red Exhibit, to honor women with heart disease. I asked my young friend and Craftsmen’s Guild of Mississippi business manager Tomika Hall Cheatham to model it for the fashion show. She looked so gorgeous coming down that glass staircase, the reds sparkling against her dark skin, that I decided the shawl was made for her!
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