July Quickies: Stopover Shawl
It is hard to believe that summer is quickly flying by and that it is almost time to start thinking about our fall knits and enjoying sweater weather. Before you know it children will be headed back to school and the leaves will start falling from trees and we will all wonder what exactly does Lucy Maud Montgomery think about October but before all that hustle and bustle, I hope that you will Stopover and enjoy this beautiful shawl design from Mone Dräger.
Stopover Shawl is knit in Malabrigo Sock and it is the perfect opportunity to exoore your favorite color combinations. You can pair a bright solid with a more muted speckled, or play with your favorite color expression. This piece is the perfect knit night project as it pairs mindless knitting with smaller lace panels.
Our July Quickies designer, Mone lives in a village in Germany and loves to craft and be creative. She can’t imagine a day without knitting and enjoys playing around with colors and stitch patterns. Mone has a special fancy for accessories, not only because they are quick to knit but also because they make great portable projects to take along on summer holidays or long train rides. Not to forget, accessories make perfect gifts.
We had the chance to ask Mone about her design process and some of the special features of this shawl.
1: What is your favorite part of your Quickies design and why?
The pattern uses rather basic stitch patterns – Stockinette, Garter and an easy to memorize lace stitch – and I like the different textures created. It is rather easy to adjust the pattern to one’s liking by adjusting the width of the stripes and/or by using more than two colors.
2: What should knitters pay attention to when working this pattern? Do you have any tips pr tricks that will make knitting this pattern easier?
The triangle shaped shawl consist of two identical halves which are divided by just one center stitch. There are increases worked into this center stitch so this stitch should be clearly marked with a movable stitch marker. Move this stitch marker frequently, especially in the lace parts, to make sure the spine stays a straight line.
3: What do you think knitters will enjoy the most about this project?
I think the mix of stitch patterns, with the lace bits needing a bit of concentration and the Stockinette stripes with its rather ‘mindless’ knitting, makes the pattern a relaxing knit. But in my honest opinion one of the nicest (and also hardest) thing is choosing the colors, because there are just so many possible combinations.
4: Was there any particular inspiration you had when creating this piece?
This pattern came to live because I brought home a skein of ‘souvenir yarn’ from holidays and then it was sitting on my desk and wondered what to knit with it. As so often, I was drawn to a more colorful variegated yarn and in my experience many patterns tend to get lost in this kind of yarn. So I had the idea to combine it with a rather solid colorway in a shade included in the colorful yarn. This way the colorful yarn can show its beauty in plain Stockinette stitch while the solid colorway shows its beauty in the great stitch definition of the lace pattern.
5: What impact does the color of this project have on you? Did you make design choices based on the colorway name?
The idea for the design was born before I picked the colorways for the project and when I made my choice I picked colorways that make me think of my happy place, the seaside. However, there are so many wonderful combinations in Malabrigo Sock that I am sure every knitter can find a combination that speaks to them.
6: What is the one thing you wish people knew about you as a designer?
While I mostly stick to accessory designs, I’m rather versatile when it comes to style or knitting techniques. I usually just run with my ideas with has resulted in a portfolio with designs that range from easy-peasy designs suitable for beginners to rather difficult designs for advanced knitters.
You can find Stopover Shawl on Ravelry: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/stopover-shawl
You can find her on IG @monemade and be sure to check out her
website: www.monemade.com