Projects
Hansel Hap Has Happened
Dear Ann,
I’ve been knitting my fool head off lately. Once again, fidelity to a single project has meant –to my everlasting surprise–a quickly finished project.
Right before Christmas, I dropped everything to cook up a prayer shawl at a dear friend’s request. This is the call a knitter waits for, right? Gotham City was sending up the Bat Signal. It wanted a shawl.
I’ve wanted to knit one of Gudrun Johnston’s Shetland Trader designs forever, and this was my opportunity. The only guidance from the requester was the colors blue and gold. (Which happen to be the colors of the Omaha North High School Vikings, by the way. I did not march in the band or play on a sportsing team, but as a Madrigal Singer, I was resplendent in a full-length, full-sleeved, blue polyester crepe gown with gold sequin trim on the empire waist. No kidding, it was beautiful, and though I wore it more than 50 times, to sing everywhere from the local news to nursing homes, I never tired of it.) Joyfully, I betook myself to Purl Soho and purchased blue, gold and two other colors, downloaded Gudrun’s popular hap shawl pattern, Hansel, and was off to the races.
Hansel started with a large garter-stitch square, knit back and forth on the bias. That was some tasty multi-tasking knitting, for sure. Then, I got to pick up all the way around for the wavy border. This process was made easy by slipped stitches at the beginning and end of every row. The stitch count for the border came out perfect. “I am a great knitter,” I thought. How considerate, for a pattern to make a knitter feel that way!
Off I went, happily happing. When plotting out the colors for the stripes, I realized I was one color short. Purl was closed for the night, and I wanted to keep knitting. Stash to the rescue: I substituted a skein from my precious cache of Starcroft Fiber‘s Nash Island Tide, in Driftwood (pale gray). Color and weight-wise, it’s perfect. It is also an education in how different two seemingly similar yarns can be. Tide, which is spun from the wool of sheep who live outdoors on a Maine island all their lives, is crisp and strong; it almost crackles in your hands. By comparison, the Brooklyn Tweed Loft, which I generally think of as a rustic, traditional yarn, seemed downright posh. Those pampered Targhee-Columbia sheep must be living a gentler life than the Nash Island flock.
Apart from a few rip-backs for Operator Error While Chatting, the only thing I messed up was the color changes. At the beginning of the striped border, I changed colors as I normally do, by just dropping the old and knitting the new. But as I went along, I realized that the location of the color changes was problematic: the beginning of the round was at one of the four corners, which are formed with yarnover-knit 1-yarnover increases. Making the yarnovers with a new color of yarn was distending the yarnovers. They looked messy and Not Right. I kept on, thinking I’d tidy it up when I wove in the ends.
But it didn’t feel right. About a third of the way into the border, I started spit-felting the color changes. What a difference. Now that corner looked as neat as the other three corners. I was tempted, briefly, to rip back to the beginning of the border, but for once in my life, I talked myself out of it. This shawl needed to get DONE.
The border went fast, and I was impatient to get back to the beautiful blue Loft, and the pointy knitted-on edging.
As is the way of pointy knitted on edgings, it seemed to take forever.
Fourteen points per side.
15-20 minutes per point.
Much television.
And then, yesterday, it was done. I wove in those ends. The corner I worried about looks a little wonky, but washing and blocking did its work and it’s acceptable, I think.
The light faded before I had the points all blocked on wires, so these photos were taken pre-blocking. It’s a glorious thing, and I long to cast on another Hansel as soon as I can. Maybe in Brooklyn Tweed Shelter, for a larger, more blankety version. I keep thinking what a nice Hansel I could make with a Hadley Pullover Kit, with those colors as the border stripes.
See what I mean? The effect would be so snowy and clean. And I’d have a shawl to match my sweater.
Hansel is such a good pattern. Five stars, worth a detour. Thank you, Gudrun.
Love,
Kay
It’s totally gorgeous. But would you please explain to me *what* a prayer shawl is? I’ve heard about them so often, but really don’t understand.
From what I understand, prayer shawls are shawls you make specifically for someone who needs prayers said for them. A prayer shawl is just a regular shawl for someone who needs a piece of fabric with a blessing in every stitch, or maybe love; or just peace, or calm, or healing perhaps. It’s like performing a mitzvah to knit one, since you get to be connected to a larger power while giving of yourself.
So apropos. This very pattern has, for other reasons, been fresh on my mind, again, after lo so many years of admiring it. Beautiful! Thanks for sharing!
I knit two Hansels, for dear friends who were having twins. These smart babies (toddlers now) looooooove their fancy blankies, thus guaranteeing them a lifetime of knitted gifts from Auntie Michaela.
Book: Knitting Into the Mystery
Website: Prayer Shawl Ministry
This was a reply to Eugenia’s question, but I somehow misplaced it when making the reply.
Thank you, Diane.
I love your Hansel!
Absolutely beautiful. !!!
Btw. I LOVE when I get that bat signal myself. I’ve answered the call many times..most often for breast cancer patients. It is the most rewarding project ever.
Your sense of humorous writing is equal to your knitting talents. I love you
It’s so beautiful! More great inspiration and favorite-ing!
Gorgeous!
Beautiful, and how snuggly, cuddly cozy it looks!
The Bat Signal has great power! So much more than non-knitters realize, and so much more love goes into those items that are specifically requested!
Your Hansel is beautiful!! I’ll be starting one in the next week or two and am so excited!!
What a blessing this will be.
The shawl is lovely, and a wonderful response to the Bat Signal.
Any chance you’ll post it on Ravelry? I’d love to be able to see how many skeins and your notes there so I can add to favorites. Makes it so easy to find when I do knit this. Love the idea of the Hadley colors.
It is absolutely stunning and I really love the colours. I’ve had Hansel on my To Knit List forever. And one of the things that flummoxes me about it is the need to choose multiple colours that look good together, which is something that stymies me a lot. But looking at your gorgeous shawl I realize that I’ve got some Loft in my stash (maybe even the same colour–Almanac?) and it would look great as the main colour for Hansel.
I’ve decided to do one variegated skein for my colors. Allows me to use stash and solves the problem of picking multiple contrasting colors. Fingers crossed that I like it in the end!!!
It’s exquisite. You have such a fine color sense Kay.
That Hansel is so hot right now. (Apologies – I can never resist an opportunity to make a Zoolander reference. As you were. Beautiful shawl!)
i too am always amazed at how quickly a project goes when I stick to one project and knit in it. It truly is magical. And so surprising. I love your Hap! And I though I was t a fan of haps. But as usual your knitting is enough to change my mind. A lot has to do with your ability to choose really good color combos (the bain of my existence and what stops me from knitting many favorite patterns).
Also BIG kudos to yher u for not ripping out!! I cannot believe you were able to do that. Hehe, your ur coming over to the dark side (my side).
I do love that Avery sweater but I worry a drop should may not be so Flatter on my non-whole30 body with a bit of excess on top, of h U know what I mean. But I do LOVE that sweater.
It looks like it would also make a nice baby blanket too!
Love it. I’ve made a few and will def try spit felting the next time. I found my soution in cheating. I made a Zauberball half hap in which the color changes are already in the yarn.
Some of the color combos in the shetalnd trader group are amazing. One amazing woman used Impressionist paintings as an inspiration.
Such a beautiful shawl…and what a good knitting story! A glorious Plan, “Gotham City was sending up the Bat Signal. It wanted a shawl,” beautiful yarns, the MacGyver-like knitter’s hacks of yarn subbing and spit-splicing, and finally, “much television.” (Oh, and I love thinking of you as a Madrigal singer, resplendent in 1970s blue and gold polyester!)
Hansel has been in my queue forever – I really need to knit one!
I hit POST too soon (I was busy trying to figure out why sometimes it shows me posting as Janna and sometimes as some variation on jannabeth – I think I maybe have multiple log-ins..) Anyway – your Hansel is gorgeous, and I think you should knit one for yourself in the same Omaha North Vikings colorway!
I just finished an extra-large Hansel as a throw blanket for my 5th grade son, in Imperial Tracie and its descendent, Tracie Too. I did all this math to make the extra part work with the knitted-on edging and the border and whatnot and still wound up fudging. But he loves the blanket. Totally different color scheme than yours– I was going for the “rustic lodge” look. 🙂 As for your colors: Go Bruins! (yep, I went to UCLA, so I love me some blue and gold too.)
But where is the yearbook photo of resplendent Madrigal Singer Kay?
Congrats on your finished Hansel! Mine is just about done. After knitting the lace edge pattern on my DD’s wedding shawl I can do it in my sleep! I heartily agree a Hansel in the colors of Hadley would be perfect!
Beautiful shawl, and I absolutely love your writing, Kay!