Monday, August 22, 2016

A Yankee Doodle Shawl and Simcha Stories

Being a proud American I couldn't resist naming this my Yankee Doodle shawl!  For non-Americans that is a reference to a popular folk song during the American Revolution.  It's the Doodler of course designed by Stephen West.


I'm not sure if anyone else has noticed, but it seems shawls keep getting bigger and bigger and bigger. Where will it all end, I ask?  When I first began knitting shawls 10 years ago I would buy a single skein of sock yarn, knit a very lacy pattern, block the bejeebers out of it and have a shawl.   But that's old school.  

There has been a seismic change afoot in the designing world that makes it an incredibly exciting and interesting time to be a knitter.  Today's designers use little lace work and it's rare to find a new pattern release that doesn't use at least two skeins of sock yarn and can run anywhere from 800 to 1,000+ yards. This shift to more use of color and materials with less lace work makes for more modern looking shawls. A change that is being noticed even by non-knitters although they don't understand the reason why today's knitting looks different.  Suffice it to say they're nonplussed when they see a project like this.  I recently had a gentleman comment "that's not my grandmother's knitting."  I'm sure he meant it as a compliment although I had a grandmother who knit wonderful cozy slippers and I loved her knitting.  But I understood what he was saying to me.  The shawl looked nothing like what his grandmother would have knit in shape or color.


Leading this charge and redefining what modern knitting looks like is knitwear designer and Instagram phenom Stephen West who designed the Doodler shawl I am wearing and has amassed incredible portfolio of amazing modern designs.  He's not afraid of color and uses the term "shawl" loosely.  I absolutely love his work and although it's only August something to keep in mind is that he has an annual mystery KAL usually in November that you can keep tabs on in his Ravelry group West Knits Fan Club.  



You have to be careful with these multi-colored projects though.  You do after all want to have a shawl that you can wear when all is said and done.  You can pretty much count on a Doodler with a neon green wing span, a black accent color, and a sparkling rainbow trim being a hard shawl to find an outfit for.  So I don't throw in completely with Stephen West on that score who is a big fan of bright color and extreme contrasts. He can pull off that sort of color combination beautifully.  But then he has a unique sense of style. Speaking of his style you need to see his music video Baby You're a Knitter as it will give you a taste of his crazy fun personality.



Particulars: The Doodler Shawl by Stephen West; 3 skeins Hedgehog Fibers Skinny Singles (colorways Urchin, dark truffle and Monarch); US 4 needles.  My project page on Ravelry has some "tips" for conserving the main color yarn as the first color runs very tight and many people ran out during the KAL last year.  I finished with literally a yarn or less of yarn in the main color.  I made no modifications whatsoever although I did not block the shawl aggressively. You can see that I did add the embellishment on the edging and I'm very happy with that decision.  It's a small aspect of the design that adds a nice finishing touch.  Finished blocked dimensions: 47" x 18" (as opposed to the 60" x 24" of the pattern dimensions).  I chose to block to a smaller dimension as I thought I would find a smaller shawl in this pattern easier to wear.


N.B.  There are several things to be aware of when knitting a shawl like this that uses multi-colored yarn/skeins.

1.  You need to check for color fastness before beginning your shawl.  My post on knitting multi-colored shawls gives a few tips on what you should do before casting on; and

2.  You might want to consider how aggressively you block your shawl. Sometimes less is more and in this case I only lightly blocked my doodler (see my finished dimensions above).  My post on the Lunna Voe Shawl discusses creative blocking such as I used here.

Simcha Stories ~

It's been a long time since I've shared a Simcha story.  We still go for our daily hikes but he's no longer the terror he was his first few years so there's not as much fodder to talk about.  He's still an imp though and likely to be to the end of his days.  Part of his personality is a contrariness that runs deep in his spirit.  If you want something from him he will be loath to part with it.  So it happened that we found a ball on our hike and I wanted to throw it for him.  But he didn't want to give it up, even though he loves to chase a ball.  Being the firm disciplinarian that I am I decided to ignore him. I lay back on the grass with my arms outstretch above my head, closed my eyes and enjoyed the warm sun soaking into me.  After a few minutes of pure blissful relaxation I felt a gooey slimy ball being placed very gently into my outstretched hand.  It was time to play ball.


Until next time be well, love well, and have fun picking out your fall and winter projects!  PS I'm very excited about the project up next.  Hint it's the perfect Fall and Winter piece. 

14 comments:

Bridget said...

Oh wow your shawl is stunning! I'm in the process of knitting some Christmas gifts and am trying not to start anything for myself.

I love hearing about Simcha and the picture you posted makes him look like a beautiful wolf! His coloring is so lovely. Please give him a kiss from me.

betty said...

I love that shawl, and I don't even knit shawls! Is it my imagination, or are many of the recent designs asymmetrical?

steph said...

absolutely lovely...hopping over from Andi's site. I must admit, I've only knit a couple of Stephen's designs....many are a bit over the top for me, but this one is being quickly added to my favs. Thanks for sharing.!

Casey said...

this is really beautiful!

Susanne said...

Such a beautiful shawl! I have yet to hop over to knitting shawls, but I have a feeling that it can get quite addictive! I love the look of the more modern designs though, so it is probably only a matter of time now ...

Anonymous said...

I've been a fan of Stephen West for years, so this post is a special delight. You are right to keep your wardrobe and personality in mind when choosing colors, though. His designs and personality are so exuberant you might accidentally "over-colorize." Your color choices are beautiful, Claudia. They are toned down just enough without losing his original spirit. How did you do it? I keep wanting to start his Daybreak but still am musing over (and scouring Ravelry for) most-likely-to-be-worn colors. Thank you so much for the Simcha update. It always makes my day! Chloe

Becki said...

I'm so glad to have discovered your blog, Claudia. I ate up every word of this post. I'm a new knitter and I found your thoughts really interesting about how knitting has changed. Thanks, too, for the extra links - so much to learn. I'm curious if you'd consider providing a way for folks to "follow" your blog via e-mail? Half-way through reading your post, I went searching for the follow-options on your blog, but didn't find an appealing to me (or workable for me) option. I'd love to be able to follow you via e-mail if you're so inclined to offer it.

Claudia Bugh said...

Thank you guys for the sweet comments on my Doodler! I want to specifically respond to a couple of questions I received in the comments (I am unable to reply by email as blogger blocks the reply email address for some reason).

Betty, you are absolutely right. The newer designs are often asymmetrical and I'm not sure why that is, other than it might be more flattering and wearable shape than the typical triangle shawl. It also allows for more creative addition of color as you see in the Doodler shawl.

Chloe, you are as always a sweetheart. I'm glad you enjoyed the Simcha update he is as full of energy as ever as you can see and still a handful to keep corralled! lol As far as picking the colors for my Doodler it was largely luck. I knit this back in November during the KAL even though I only blogged it now (I sometimes jump over projects and skip around depending on what I'm in the mood to blog, etc.) which means I had no idea what the final project would look like and I took a risk using the light color for my main color as the advice for the KAL was to use the brighter color for the main color. As far as the actual color choice that was also just luck. I wanted to buy one of the kits that Stephen West offered for the KAL but I wasn't fast enough to pick one up. Instead I had to buy the yarn in one of the frantic Hedgehog fiber "shop updates" and frankly the colors I would have liked were sold out and I picked up 2 colors because they were still available and even then I was still only able to pick up 2 of the 3 colors. The 3rd color (Monarch) I picked with the assistance of a LYS owner who talked me through some color options as I don't have a hedgehog fiber vendor near me. Bottom line it was a haphazard approach to picking the colors :) Daybreak is a beautiful pattern and on my list to do. If you want a more wearable shawl then I would make sure that at least one color is a neutral and I like to visit the LYS when possible because you can see the colors and see how they look in person much better than online. Good luck and happy knitting Chloe :)

Becky! Thank you so much for pointing out that there is a better (easier) way to allow someone to subscribe by email. I had to do a little research but it turns out to be very easy to add that option which I have now done. I'm so pleased to hear you enjoyed your visit and appreciate the help with blogging! lol

Becki said...

Wonderful! I just signed up to get notices of your posts via e-mail. Thanks, Claudia!

Anonymous said...

Thank you, Claudia, about the neutral color tip. ! will remember that. I understand about the "pouncing" early. Those desirable colors and kits always seem to go so early (grr) but at least in this case it was certainly a "win"!

Allie-oops Designs said...

That is one of the most stunning designs I've ever seen. Really gorgeous, Claudia! Love the Simcha story, he looks positively wolfish in that pic!!!

Willow said...

I love that shawl design! I can see it done up in turquoise and navy or purple and grey for me. I tend to not block aggressively--it's just my laziness probably.
All I can say about Simcha is, "Silly, sweet boy." :)

Mary Lynn said...

I signed up to receive your posts via email. Your shawl is beautiful. How do you find the time? Looking forward to your fall project. Our pups have a way of making us smile. Always, love the Simcha stories.

Claudia Bugh said...

Wonderful Mary Lynn. I'm so happy to hear the subscribe by email option is helpful. As far as finding time to knit I typically knit for at least an hour each evening as I watch TV! Mostly I think it is a matter of making a little progress each day because if you set your knitting aside it is easy to let time slip by without knitting a stitch. Wishing you a wonderful Fall and happy knitting :)