Feathers of the Phoenix Shawl
Jeri Lea Kisala sent this outstanding shawl. What can I say. It takes my breath away. She writes:
"This just came off my needles the day before yesterday and it makes me so happy! It uses two skeins of Sea Silk (Woodland) on size 4 needles. When this yarn begged me to take it home (from Windsor Button in Massachusetts), I was determined to use it for something that would take maximum advantage of it. I looked everywhere for ideas, but no designs I found seemed just right. I borrowed all three of Barbara Walker's knitting treasuries from the library, and swatched and sketched like crazy. I settled on two motifs from her second book. I borrowed the border and top-down Faroese-style shoulder shaping from a Lucy Neatby pattern... After that came a lot of time with an Excel spreadsheet charting out ideas. I found the most logical place to end the shawl based on where all the different motifs in each area came to the end of a full repetition, which wouldn't have been the case had the shawl been either a little shorter or a little longer, and amazingly didn't run out of yarn before I got there. The ball of yarn I had left over at the end was about the size of a large marble (a shooter, we used to call them). So I guess I succeeded in making the most I could out of it. I love the shimmer in this yarn, especially in the stockinette areas, and the gentle way it radiates the warmth of your skin.
Someone asked me how I came up with this (my first lace shawl and my first design ever), and the answer I gave is that I asked the yarn what it wanted to be and this was its answer. I call it Feathers of the Phoenix. "
So much thought and effort went into creating this masterpiece, I just know that it will inspire others. Can you believe that this is her first lace shawl project? Jeri has made this pattern available on her newly created website "A la Kisala Designs".
Well done :)
Comments
What a wonderful presentation of my project! Thanks! Just a clarification, though -- this wasn't my first lace project. I had done a shrug, a scarf and a baby hat previously, all from slavishly followed patterns. I had never done a shawl before, though, or any project of that magnitude. It's definitely my first lace design!
Posted by: Jeri Lea Kisala | 13, 2008 01:51
Jeri: this is absolutely fabulous. I want to be you when I grow up. Will definetely be checking out your pattern... :-) it is simply lovely.
Cheers,
Kristina
Posted by: Kristina | 17, 2008 10:27
Your shawl inspired me to take up knitting. I can crochet, but I love the knitting stitch. It will be a while before I can attempt your pattern. See you at Church.
- Cathy
Posted by: Cathy Kowalski | 23, 2008 02:38
Wow, that's just gorgeous.
Posted by: Jennifer | 16, 2008 07:32
A beautiful pattern but it is NOT free, so it should be removed from this list.
---
Sorry for the confusion. I do have links to designers working with my yarns on my blog. Many of these designers do this for a living and thus charge for their patterns. I put them in my "pattern" section, which is kind of a generic grouping for this sort of thing. Did you link through the kits page? Perhaps I should re-do the link?
Thanks for your interest in our yarns.
Regards
jana
Posted by: Phoebe K | 2, 2008 08:20