Clementine Shawlette

Pattern: Clementine Shawlette
Source: Interweave Knits, Spring 2007
Yarn: Lisa Souza Superfine Alpaca in "Seaglass"
Needles: Antique #4 straight needles

Notes: I love this pattern. The way it looks, the way it knit, the decreases to make the fancy "tassles", everything. The yarn was perfect for it because the light and white bits show off the diagonal quality of the lace work, but it is still solid enough that the variegation didn't detract from the lace. It is also light and airy, though deceptively warm. I got many a compliment on it yesterday when I wore it to the office. I have to mention that I love that I can even wear a shawl to the office, as they are decidedly unmodern, and I work in an advertising agency. This one, however, is different and versatile, which is why I fell in love with it. If you haven't considered knitting the Clementine Shawlette, consider it now...you'll love it!

I can't mention this shawl without talking about the graft. The pattern calls for you to knit two identical pieces and then graft them together, that is the only instruction. Upon knitting the first few repeats, I knew that this wouldn't work because it would have two garter rows being grafted together, and that would just look messy. So, once I determined how many repeats of the main lace pattern I wanted to knit on each side (30), I knit two rows beyond that in pattern (a knit and a purl row). I then grafted the two pieces together. I've seen countless ways to do it that would work, but this seemed like the simplest to me, and it produced the same results that the more complicated grafting techniques did.