Sloane's Elfriede FO + Forge Shawls for Newbies

Funny things happen when I'm between major-project deadlines. (Those of you who have known me a while know the result is usually random burst of hat designs between mid-October and late-November.) This fall, after I finished the sample for Marley, I thought I should finally try to do a little bit of that selfish knitting I promised myself I would start doing this year, and decided to cast on a project that's been on my "someday I should knit this" list forever: Shannon Cook's Elfriede shawl, originally published in Laine magazine in 2018. 

I'm a die-hard sweater knitter, and I am not, historically, much of a shawl person: while I actually wear the one shawl I designed a few years back a fair amount, I've never really been a shawl knitter. But, I'm a determined student of our craft, and am now pretty convinced that Forge on slightly-oversized needles produces a fabric I want to wrap myself up in constantly, so, I grabbed four skeins in Tobacco and my size 8 needles and set off on a journey through shawl world. 

I knit this over our socially distant holidays, through California's second lockdown, before, during, and after I finished the Warren sample, and finally finished it in early February. It has pretty much been on my person, in my bag, or on the back of my desk chair ever since. I had some moments of doubt in the knitting (not-so-pro tip: don't ever do the math on what percentage of a shawl you've knit by stitch count. Trust me.), I'm thrilled with the end result, and while I'll never abandon my first love of garment knitting, I'm significantly intrigued by shawl life.

Shannon has designed this shawl with a beautiful, simple lace pattern that was easy to read once I got going, and engaging enough to give me that "just one more row!" feeling that propelled me through what was admittedly quite a lot of knitting. (If you follow me on instagram, you also know that I apparently found the lace pattern so meditative that I...got distracted watching Outlander and managed to transpose one entire 8 row x 9 stitch motif one stitch to the left. Oops!) Forge's three-ply structure makes the central "spine" of the lace repeats (created by a sk2p decrease) really pop, and makes the yarnover eyelets really crisp in the blocked FO. The resulting shawl is gigantic, delightfully warm, and eye-catchingly textured, while Tobacco's warm, cordovan-brown color goes with pretty much everything in my wardrobe, which runs high to blues and greys.

[I asked the internet for some help on how to style the FO, which is somewhat gigantic in scale. Fortunately, some of our favorite Friends of the Flock are Serious Shawl People, and weighed in with some good advice.] 

So, what next? I'm working on a sample for our Spring 2021 collection now, but I'm already imagining future Forge shawl projects for late spring and early summer, when I'm typically on a sweater hiatus. For now, I'm leaving the actual shawl designing to the many wildly more experienced folks out there, so I took a brief trip through the Ravelry archives to try to find some strong candidates, beyond the wonderful shawls we've published for Forge in the past year. Here's what's on my list:

  • Super simple shawls: I'm mostly looking for warm and soothing here, so some of the obvious candidates are classic garter-or-stockinette shawls, maybe with a few hints of color changes or more ambitious textures. Options like cabinfour's Nordic Wind, Wapiti, and Pure, Sam Lamb's Wellington Worksock and Black River Blanket shawls, or something like Covered by Friend of the Flock Alicia Plummer are in this category.
  • Texture 201: Slightly more complicated, but nothing too exotic. Jill Zielinski's Making Comfort, designed for our wonderful friends at Wool + Honey, Melody Hoffman's Aito and Homestead, and Orlane Sucche's classic textured shawl recipe are all candidates here.
  • Cables and more complicated allover texture: Gretha Mensen's Dewy Ocean (among others -- she has many great options), Honey Moss, Winter Honey, and Hoarfrost from Andrea Mowry.

This list is heavily tailored towards my knitting proclivities: there's a huge universe out there of colorwork and stripes and exotic shaping and heavy allover texture that I haven't considered here, because I'm mostly looking for things that will be warm, soothing to knit, and that won't stress my sometimes-fragile wrists too much when the rows get long. I'd love to know what's on your best-of list for worsted weight shawls: what's a can't-miss for you? What techniques do you absolutely love? Drop a comment below and let me know, and (spoiler alert) stay tuned for a new shawl in Forge from a new indie designer friend of ours coming next week!

371 comments

  • Posted on by Anna joe
    i want to share to the whole world how Dr masako the Great of all the Spell Caster, that helped me reunite my marriage back, my Ex Husband broke up with me 3months ago, I have been trying to get him back ever since then, i was worried and so confused because i love him so much. I was really going too depressed, he left me with my kids and just ignored me constantly. I have begged him for forgiveness through text messages for him to come back home and the kids crying and miss their dad but he wont reply, I wanted him back desperately. we were in a very good couple and yet he just ignores me and get on with his life just like that, so i was looking for help after reading a post of Dr masako on the internet when i saw a lady name SHARRON testified that Dr masako cast a Pure love spell to stop divorce. and i also met with other, it was about how he brought back her Ex lover in less than 24 hours at the end of her testimony she dropped his email, I contacted Dr masako via email and explained my problem to Dr masako and he told me what went wrong with my husband and how it happen, that he will restored my marriage back, and to my greatest surprise my Ex husband came back to me, and he apologized for his mistake, and for the pain he caused me and my children. Then from that day our marriage is now stronger than how it was before, Dr masako you’re a real spell caster, you can also get your Ex back and live with him happily: Contact Email doctormasako@gmail.com or Call/whatsapp +2349047144277 Visit his Website: https://doctormasako2.wixsite.com/drmasakospelltemple
  • Posted on by Allen Linhart
    It’s quite unfortunate how many unlicensed and unregulated crypto investments are being used to steal crypto assets from people who don’t have an idea of how crypto works.

    I was once a victim and I’m here to speak out because the pump and dump schemes made me lose $1.2M worth of crypto in November last year, and if I didn’t carry out my research together with the assistance of Morphohack Cyber Service who was able to help me withdraw my crypto after it was frozen in their crypto investment platform, my crypto assets would have been gone forever. Morphohack Cyber Service detected their price was artificially inflated only to have it drop, this is usually done to cheat customers out of their hard-earned money. If you are ever in need of a professional and reliable crypto assets recovery specialist, Morphohack Cyber Service is the best. You can rest assured that your privacy and security are protected, everything is done professionally and both parties are protected. My crypto was recovered successfully and Morphohack has since then improved my security, and secured my account from any future financial loss. You can contact them via WhatsApp: +1 (213 –  672 4092) Email: Morphohack@Cyberservices.com

  • Posted on by CNC Intelligence
    RECOVER YOUR LOST CRYPTO ASSETS WITH CNC INTELLIGENCE.

    CNC Intelligence is a team of Cyber Intelligence, Crypto Investigation, Asset Tracing and Offshore Legal experts. Working together to form a boutique cyber and crypto intelligence group focused on providing results.
    Using the latest Cyber Tools, Open Source Intelligence (OSINT), Human Intelligence (HUMINT), and cutting edge technology, we provide actionable intelligence to our clients.
    WHY CHOOSE CNC INTELLIGENCE?
    - Expert Cyber Investigation Services —Our cyber investigators are certified in the US, UK and experienced with investigations spanning 6 continents.
    - Cryptocurrency And Digital Asset Tracking -- We are able to track the movement of several different cryptocurrencies and assets. If the cryptocurrency has been moved, we are able to follow it.
    - Strategic Intelligence For Asset Recovery - The first step to recovery is locating recoverable assets. Our experienced team will be able to walk you through the process.

    Schedule a mail session with our team of professionals today via – cncintel247 (@) gmail (.) com to get started immediately or visit – cncintel (.) com

    BEWARE of FABRICATED reviews and testimonies endorsing fraudsters, do not get scammed twice.

    Disclaimer: CNC Intelligence is not a law enforcement agency and not a law firm. Like all investigators, we cannot guarantee specific results, but we apply our expertise and resources to every case professionally and ethically.

  • Posted on by CNC Intelligence
    RECOVER YOUR LOST CRYPTO ASSETS WITH CNC INTELLIGENCE.

    CNC Intelligence is a team of Cyber Intelligence, Crypto Investigation, Asset Tracing and Offshore Legal experts. Working together to form a boutique cyber and crypto intelligence group focused on providing results.
    Using the latest Cyber Tools, Open Source Intelligence (OSINT), Human Intelligence (HUMINT), and cutting edge technology, we provide actionable intelligence to our clients.
    WHY CHOOSE CNC INTELLIGENCE?
    - Expert Cyber Investigation Services —Our cyber investigators are certified in the US, UK and experienced with investigations spanning 6 continents.
    - Cryptocurrency And Digital Asset Tracking -- We are able to track the movement of several different cryptocurrencies and assets. If the cryptocurrency has been moved, we are able to follow it.
    - Strategic Intelligence For Asset Recovery - The first step to recovery is locating recoverable assets. Our experienced team will be able to walk you through the process.

    Schedule a mail session with our team of professionals today via – cncintel247 (@) gmail (.) com to get started immediately or visit – cncintel (.) com

    BEWARE of FABRICATED reviews and testimonies endorsing fraudsters, do not get scammed twice.

    Disclaimer: CNC Intelligence is not a law enforcement agency and not a law firm. Like all investigators, we cannot guarantee specific results, but we apply our expertise and resources to every case professionally and ethically.

  • Posted on by Roy Stubbs
    The importance of acting quickly and seeking help from the right people is never to be overlooked, as this saved me from losing $190K of my hard-earned money after I fell victim to a crypto investment scam.

    I was able to recover my crypto funds because I acted quickly and sought help from people and the internet. I was directed to Morphohack Cyber Service by my friend and I went online quickly to research Morphohack Cyber Service and found several reviews about them and their successes in the recovery of crypto. I was very eager to see what they could do about my case, and they didn’t disappoint me as Morphohack Cyber Service was able to recover my crypto successfully. I was truly pleased by their response and efforts, it was very refreshing to see that there are amazing people like them out there who care about this and do all they can to help you recover your crypto. I’ve put their contact information below this post.

    Morphohack@cyberservices.com
    WhatsApp: (+1) 213 –  6724092

Leave a comment

All blog comments are checked prior to publishing
You have successfully subscribed!