I spent the last week in a fog, inexplicably lethargic and napping daily. My natural inclination was to wrap myself up in something cozy and fall asleep. Since I was too tired to knit, I day-dreamed about knitting up large shawls – and as I did so I kept stumbling upon patterns by Sylvia McFadden. This designer burst onto the scene a few years ago with patterns like Waiting For Rain, which mixed short rows with lace. She’s since put together beautiful collections of patterns, mostly shawls, that are earthy and refined, cozy and comforting. It’s easy to find gorgeous and inspiring Sylvia McFadden patterns, so I decided to take it up a notch and pair these patterns with some of the yarns on sale in our Clear the Cubbies Sale. I didn’t find this too challenging either, since I’m always trying to imagine the future life of these beautiful yarns.
I’ll get started with the yarn first, as we’ve done a decent job of clearing those cubbies!
Dromedary is a really wonderful yarn – a blend of camel and merino. It is soft and light with a hint of drape. We have two colors remaining: cream and camel. Both of these colors lend themselves nicely to McFadden’s aesthetic and styling. Dromedary would be perfect for patterns like Only Ocean, a large lace shawl with a wave-motif, or The Rain Outside (the DK-weight shawl with the lace short-rows). Depending on how you decide to knit either of these up, you’ll need 3 to 4 skeins of each. Each skein of Dromedary is a whopping 290 yards, and at 50% off they are $13 each, and that sounds like a pretty amazing deal to me!
Stargazer is another gorgeous yarn that is almost gone. This camel/silk blend has sheen and drape. I have a sweater made of it with is feminine by virtue of the fiber content alone, and I’ve always imagined this would become a gorgeous shawl. Stargazer is also a dk-weight yarn that would knit up beautifully in either of the patterns mentioned above. I’m in love with this green color that reminds me of a rainy spring day.
We still have quantities of Queensland’s Kathmandu available in amounts perfect for shawl and scarf knitting. This is a beautiful and soft tweed. Did I mention that it was soft? A hint of cashmere goes a long way, adding some refinement to this textured yarn. I love the bold colors of this yarn, which are toned down by the tweed.
Authenticity jumps out first as a perfect yarn for Kathmandu. Three skeins will do the trick for this beautiful shawl. I particularly like that the lace motif opens up the fabric a lot, so it’s generously sized without having a ton of yardage.
McFadden has a ton of shawl patterns written for worsted-weight yarns, and I’d easily knit up any of these using Kathmandu as well. The result will be a slightly bigger shawl – and since bigger is always better for me and shawls, this is an entirely good idea. Some Time Alone has a cool picot edge and uses just under 600 yards of worsted weight yarn. Salt has a modern triangle motif and also about 600 yards of yarn. Keep Loving is one more beautiful, high impact piece that uses right around 600 yards of yarn.
There are a few other yarns that would work beautifully for those worsted-weight shawl patterns listed in the previous paragraph. Falkland Aran is a luxurious workhorse yarn. We have a decent amount of a beautiful chestnut color that would suit these pieces beautifully. Falkland Aran is on sale for $18.70/skein – and at 200 yards each you can make one of these pieces with 3 skeins. Misty Wool has a rustic-but-refined character that will shine in these patterns. Juniper Moon’s Neve will knit up a cotton shawl perfect for cool moments during the warm-weather months. Pure Bliss Sita is a luscious cotton-silk blend with sheen that will be a beautiful choice for any month of the year.
River is one more pattern for the worsted-weight yarns. It’s a medium, two-color shawl that would be a lovely choice for mixing colors of Neve, using up single skeins of Misty Wool or putting together knock color combos of Sita. It’s a versatile, wearable piece that is fun to knit because of the color changes.
There’s an abundance of beautiful things to make with all of this sale yarn – even with the very limited parameters I put on this week’s pool of inspiration. Come and take a look at great deals we have – in store and online! If it was this easy for us to find so many great patterns by one particular designer, think of all the fun you can have with all of these fantastic deals.
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