We love maps in our house. As a child, one of my favorite books was my oversized atlas I'd haul from one reading spot to another. The binding was frayed, the cover badly torn, some of the pages were smudged and borders were constantly changing. I loved that each country had a beautiful spread across two pages, that there were facts running up and down the sides, flags, traditional dress shown, topography, food, climate and agriculture. Anyone can tell you that growing up is difficult, and I could disappear into the pages of that book and become anyone, anywhere. I still have that atlas, despite it being long out-of-date.
My son is starting to show signs of a love for maps. At his request, I recently hung a huge map of the United States in his bedroom. His playroom has a wonderful map of the world on the wall and he'll point to a country and ask me to tell him about it. I got him an oversized atlas that we often pull down from the book shelf, open to a random page and dream together about places far away. Looking and talking about maps and ideas of distant lands, mysterious cultures and places we may never visit is a fantastic way to spend an afternoon.
Inspired by my old atlas, warmer climates and unique landscapes, I'd like to introduce you to the latest and penultimate installment of my series of KALs (knit-a-longs) for String Yarns in New York City. With visions of aquamarine Hawaiian and Caribbean waters, mountains and coral reefs, please welcome the Mahalo Shawl!
An asymmetrical shawl knitting up in a scalene triangle (if you've forgotten your high school geometry, that means all sides are different lengths), this shape shows off contrasting colors, interesting stitch patterns and a scalloped short edge. 9 ridges of garter stitch sandwich an intriguing 6 row cluster pattern with wrapping, triple yarn overs and slipped stitches. Working the coral-colored sections was my favorite part of this shawl!
Knit in String Yarns' Windsong, a summery, breathable, light-weight blend of 50% silk and 50% linen yarn, this shawl needs only 2 balls of the main color and 1 of the contrasting color. With size US 10.5 needles, the open, airy stitches create a fabric that won't be heavy on your shoulders, can fold up nicely in your suitcase for your summer travel and can be worn many ways. It's the perfect size for travel knitting!
As always, this KAL for String Yarns will take place in their Ravelry Group. The shawl will be broken down into 4 installments every Tuesday starting on July 12th, but I will be checking in, encouraging and offering advice to all as we knit our way through it together! The benefits to KALs are enormous - comraderie, the sharing of tips and tricks, working on the same project together all over the world and seeing the progress of new friends is an uncommon experience. After 1 month of installments, the group will remain active for an additional month to allow everyone to finish and continue to receive my help. I'll be checking in on you daily!
Head over to String Yarns here to order your kit and receive 15% off the Mahalo Shawl kit with the code JulyKAL16 at checkout. Pick your favorite color combination from 12 options or go with the ones I chose! Be sure to join the Ravelry group here and order your kit to be ready for July 12th. This is my favorite project so far in my series of KALs for String and I hope you'll join us in July. See you there!
Mahalo!
