Nothing But Leaves Shawl

It’s official. I’m ditching my fleece housecoat. This is one big hug of wooly warmth, softness, color and lace that has me nearly swooning with knitterly love. And it makes me feel beautiful even when I’m bleary-eyed and haven’t  had my morning coffee.

The pattern is the Forest Canopy Shawl — you might remember a previous blog post about my scarf-sized version?

When I found this wool, in a rather awful shade of brown and neon brights, hiding in a drawer at the thrift store — I had a vision, a random moment of brilliance. I snatched it up, took it home and over-dyed it with red…the colors muted, deepened, and I knew exactly what I wanted to knit. (More pictures and details on my Ravelry notebook page. )

The ladies of eras gone by definitely had the right idea…why wear a chunky coat if you can wear something like this instead?

Not quite Ma’s shawl…

…but I really love how it knit up. The pattern is Forest Canopy Shawl and is available on the designer’s website or through Ravelry. I knit it using Manos Del Uruguay Silk Blend, and I’m completely smitten with it. Manos is a cooperative that provides a fair working wage to village women in Uruguay…so if the softness and sheen of merino and silk aren’t reason enough to swoon, you can feel good about where your purchase money went.

I have a feeling this is one of those finished items that will see a lot of use…so versatile! It’s a scarf, hood, wrap…and I’m only starting to play with it and see what works.

More pictures on my Ravelry page…you know, I think I need to knit a nice, big, warm version of this for snuggling on the couch reading.

Otherwise new on the home scene — I’m on a sock-monkey-sewing binge. I hope to have my own “barrel of monkeys” (well, four anyway!) for the littles…I think they will be great Christmas gifts. Pictures to come soon.