Steve's Shawl

Steve's mother died early last Sunday morning. She has been suffering from Alzheimer's Disease, and on Sunday she just drifted away. We had been expecting this outcome for a few months, so since May, I have been working on a Prayer Shawl for him.

In my head, I saw his shawl as symbolic of the beach -- a place a peace -- because I wanted his shawl to say "peace" to him, and to remind him of quiet walks on the beach, as well as the presence of God in his life.

The shawl is rectangular (about 80 x 27 inches) and is knit on the bias. I started with one stitch and increased each row on one end, knitting front and back on the second to last stitch of the row and the second stitch on the next row. I continued this pattern until the triangle gave me the width I wanted, and then, still doing the increases, I started decreases on the opposite end of the rows -- knitting the third and second stitches to the last in the row together as well as slipping and knitting together the second and third stitches at the beginning of the next row. When it was long enough, I stopped doing the increases and kept decreasing until I was back to one stitch.

Two-thirds of the shawl is blue (Araucania Nature Wool Solids), but isn't solid. There are light and dark values of blue in the yarn, so the blue section looks a little like waves and water. The sand is Patons Classic Wool in Natural Mix. There is a surf line, which is a cream colored wool (two rows). I knit it with US size 11, harmony circle needles from Knitpicks.

Sewn to the sand are seashell charm. There is one in the picture to the left, although it is in shadow and is hard to see. On one corner are three charms -- cross with alpha fish (faith), anchor (hope) and heart (love).