None of the Above, Mapes

It ended up being none of the above – after much rigamarole, we ended up with a shawl pattern named Mapes.

Pickin out a pumpkin!

I say a shawl pattern as opposed to a shawl, because the pattern you get for your $4.50 actually contains instructions for 3 shawls. As I mentioned before there is a basic shawl recipe – if all you are interested in is the shape. Which really, not to break my arm patting myself on the back, is an easy to wear shape. Second there are a few suggested texture stitches that are only two stitches wide, and therefore easy to insert into the central stockinette section (or you could do the whole thing garter, I have no idea how that would look, but would love to see). Third is specific instructions for the shawl I knit using one of the suggested texture stitches worked in a pattern.

You can wear it AND wrestle a 5 yr old.

I love the warm, casual, worsted weightiness of the sample. It is possibly my favorite “everyday” shawl that I have knit to date. And it was a crazy fast knit. Knitting consistently each night, you could have a big shawl in a week. And that is one of the reasons I ended up with the name. The Shadout Mapes is a peripheral but integral character in Dune; the housekeeper with significantly more that meets the eye. This is a shawl that could be worn housekeeping – but knit with other yarn in another gauge – fancy pants indeed.

And I really am looking forward to seeing what others do with this pattern. One of my testers is knitting it in handspun, and I am betting it is going to look awesome! It also shows up variegated yarns to great advantage (one of my primary goals in designing, because I looooove hand-painted yarn). So, if you think you might knit this – with what yarn do you see yourself knitting?

Couldn't resist one more picture!

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