Holden Shawlette

Holden Shawlette

Holden Shawlette (Small Size)
Pattern by Mindy Wilkes
Available for purchase on Ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/holden-2

Skills Needed: Picot Bind-off, Yarn Over Increase, k2tog, skp

I had this lovely pattern sitting in my Ravelry library for some time.  The designer, Mindy Wilkes, was inspired by a vacation taken in Holden Beach, which is where my husband is actually from. (This is a very small beach town in North Carolina.) I was so thrilled be the coincidence that I stashed the pattern…and promptly forgot about it.  Recently, when scrounging for something to bring to my parent’s house for a week-long visit I had planned, I rediscovered this gem.  Luckily I snatched it up when the pattern was available for free.  However, even though the price has gone up to $6.00, it appears the pattern has been dramatically improved (not that the free version was bad).  There are now three sizes to choose from written for two yarn weights and the pattern has been professionally edited.  I’d say it is worth the money.

The small size took me two weeks to finish.  An addendum to this- one of those weeks was spent at my parent’s house where my one-year old son dutifully spent his waking hours showing me how not baby-proof his surroundings were.  It was hard to pick up my knitting when I knew his little fingers were searching for outlets and his mischievous mind was bent on freeing my parents’ Great Dane from where we had her partitioned away from him.  I guess my point is that even with all of these distractions, the small size only took two weeks; the project works up quite quickly if you’re looking for any last minute gift making ideas.

I used Knit Pick’s fingering weight Stroll Tonal Sock Yarn in “Pacific.”  I was hoping for more of an ocean effect, but really, it just reminds me of blue wool socks. Sad face. The end result is not bad, but I definitely had some knitter’s envy when I saw some of the other finished projects posted on Ravelry.  It is really amazing how much difference color makes in a project.  However, one hank of the Stroll Tonal gets you through the whole small-sized project.  I love a good project that takes only one hank.  It is the miracle of knitting that one ball of yarn can produce something so lovely.

Summary:

This is a great shawl for beginners to lace work or a more experienced knitter looking for a quick project that has a satisfying result.  (Perhaps a great vacation knitting project?)  The body is worked in a stockinette stitch with YO increases down the center and along the edges.  The lace trim has both written instructions and a chart and is very easy to memorize. (Makes it a very good on-th-go knit project.) With stitch counts given for almost every WS row in the lace work, it is simple to make sure everything is staying on track, especially if you have to put your work down frequently.  It is finished with a picot bind-off.  

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