Spend time near any lake or pond in summer here in New England and you're sure to see dragonflies and damselflies. Since the lace in my new shawl design reminds me of them, I decided to call it Enallagma, after the pretty blue damselflies.
This shawl has an asymmetrical shape similar to my Notch shawl. But while Notch begins from a few stitches and grows wider and wider, Enallagma is just the opposite: after working the lace section, one edge gradually tapers during the garter stitch-and-eyelet rows until finally there are just five stitches to bind off. So the knitting goes faster and faster as you go, which I found to be a great motivator to keep knitting!
Can you see from these photos what a lovely halo the yarn has? This undyed wool/mohair blend called Thelma & Louise comes from sheep and angora goats with those very names at Wing & a Prayer Farm in Vermont. I purchased it last fall at the annual New York Sheep and Wool Festival (aka Rhinebeck) with a shawl in mind. Now, many months later, that glimmer of an idea is a reality.
Summer lace — in nature and in knitting
The pattern will be published just as soon as I finish editing photos and finalizing the layout. In the meantime, if you'd like to start planning, you'll need about 600 yards/550 m of DK weight or light worsted weight yarn, and US 6/4.00mm and US 7/4.50mm needles.