Tree of Life in Summer Fichu

New today, the Tree of Life in Summer Fichu! I enjoyed designing and making this one so much that I am thinking of making it the first in a series: The Tree of Life: the Four Seasons.



The Tree of Life in Summer Fichu is a crescent-shaped shawl with elongated “wings” which help it sit securely on your shoulders. The shawl is cast on at the neck edge and worked downwards, culminating in a 5½”-wide sideways lace border which is joined progressively to the live stitches along the bottom edge of the shawl. No sewing is required. Increases are worked along the front and sides of the shawl to avoid a pronounced triangle point at the center back. It uses 2 skeins of Crystal Palace Mini Mochi yarn in color 104. It's warm and toasty and very soft.

The design shows the Tree surrounded by flowers and edged with leaves.

The 5 page PDF contains charts for the border lace, the entire body of the shawl and color photographs.


buy now for $6.95 at my Ravelry store
buy now for $6.95 from Patternfish

Octavia's Garlands - Customizable Lace Shawl & Armwarmers

Behold! After much design and testing, the Octavia's Garlands Lace Shawl is ready.


It's a unique and customizable pattern for a rectangular lace shawl. You don’t have to be a harpist to make or wear it - any musician or music lover would enjoy it! Seven song alternatives are included, making it a great value. If you don’t see your favorite tune in the list, there’s also a blank staff that lets you chart your own! The pattern is a 20 page PDF which includes the following:


Color Photos
Instructions
Leaf Lace Chart
Right-Facing Harp
Left-Facing Harp
Music Chart: Blank Staff
Music Chart: Scales, parts A & B
Music Chart: Twinkle, Twinkle, parts A & B
Music Chart: Brahms’ Lullaby, parts A & B
Music Chart: Danny Boy, parts A & B
Music Chart: Flower Duet from Lakmé, parts A & B
Music Chart: Ode to Joy, parts A & B
Music Chart: Road to Lisdoonvarna, parts A & B

You don’t need to print all 20 pages for your project. Each shawl only needs the following 5 pages: Instructions, Left-facing harp, Right-facing harp, and parts A & B of your chosen song. Lace patterns are provided in charted form only.

The shawl is worked in two halves which are grafted in the center. Music charts include approximately the first 4 bars of each tune. (Please note that some minor musical liberties may have been taken for ease of knitting.) The tune on the shawl shown is the Flower Duet from Lakmé.

The shawl uses two skeins of Knit Picks Gloss Lace (70% Merino, 30% Silk) - 440 yd each, colorway “Aegean”, or approx. 880 yards of laceweight yarn.

A pattern for Octavia’s Coordinating Leaf Lace Armwarmers is available separately. Three skeins of Gloss Lace are enough to complete both projects.

The two page PDF includes instructions for three Lengths: Short Forearm, Long Forearm, Opera Length. Sizes range from Woman’s XS (to fit 6” wrist, 9” upper arm) to Woman’s XL (to fit 10” wrist, 13” upper arm). A schematic drawing shows measurements for all sizes. Instructions for leaf lace are provided in both written and charted form.

Photos show womans’ size small, opera length.

One subtle rib on either side of the lace panel makes for a tailored fit. All shaping is worked in the plain area, so lace patterning stays the same for the length of the piece. Three skeins of Gloss Lace yarn (1320 yd total) are enough for both patterns.

Octavia's Garlands Lace Shawl pattern
buy now for $9.95 at my secure Ravelry store

Octavia's Coordinating Leaf Lace Armwarmers pattern
buy now for $5.95 at my secure Ravelry store

Welcome! Bienvenidos! Happy knitting!

Welcome to With Strings Attached, the brand new home page and blog of KnitDesign by Caroline, your source for elegant, original handknitting patterns.

My patterns are available as PDF downloads from Ravelry and Patternfish. "Buy Now" links will take you to the Ravelry page for each pattern. To view all available patterns, click the Patterns tab at the top of the page.

My most recent pattern: Victorian Lace Cuffs
buy now for $5.95 at my Ravelry store


My most popular pattern: The Mawata Lilies Shawlette, which includes the pattern plus instructions on working with mawata (unspun silk)
buy now for $6.95 at my Ravelry store

Preview of coming attractions: picture harps, lace, and customizable music in rich Aegean blue. That's all for now. More to come soon. Happy knitting!