How we turned a molehill into a "Cold Mountain"

A few weeks ago, I did the unthinkable. I cast on for a lace shawl. I know, I know, all of you lace-ites don't question your sanity when you decide to tackle the next mission the lace god's have sent you on. But I, a lowly crafter, who enjoys a good challenge, quake every time I see the words "lace weight", or "blocking".  For years I avoided the lace path by keeping myself busy with cables, sweaters, bobbles, scarves (for EVERYONE) Fair Isle, socks, dishcloths, hats, and last, and most certainly least intarsia.  I have done very easy lace before for market bags, the random scarf, and a teapot cozy for my Mum. The problem is, even though it's labeled "easy", for me it was anything but.

To be honest I never found shawls to be very chic. In my mind a shawl is what your grandmother who knits wears. I already knit I thought, lets not add the shawl just yet... Then my Mother a few years ago roped me into helping her with a shawl class she was teaching. She wanted two different pattern options, She would knit one, I the other. She picked a civil war era, garter stitch, triangle shawl. I picked a 1950's wrap, which had a collar and, drum roll, was nothing but lace. It doesn't look like lace; it looks like a faux cable. Needless to say it drove me up a wall and almost over a cliff before my mother helped me by knitting the last ten or so inches. NEVER AGAIN, I thought. 

Then fate intervened, while at the Knit In Public/take over the sidewalk in front of the Village Knittery Day, Mary Beth needed help taking a picture of a recent lace shawl she had just finished.  It. Was. Beautiful. I don't even remember what she said about it besides the dreaded words "lace weight" and I just finished "blocking" it. I have never fallen so hard for knitting before. Sure, I have drooled over many, many, patterns and types of knitting. But I have never suddenly NEEDED to knit something!

I went to my knitting enabler with my problem. "Why don't we make it a knit-along? And include the guild, so we'll be sure to finish it?" She said. "Sure Mom, sounds like a good idea."

Over the next few weeks I searched and searched for the perfect shawl. The words circling in my head were:

•       It must not have too many repeats
•       It must be free
•       It must be a rectangle
•       It must look like lace  (Not faux cables. Been there, bought the t-shirt)

      I enlisted the enabler again to help me decide. A lovely pattern from Knitty.com (Free!) called Cold Mountain by Kieran Foley caught our eyes. It was perfect; it had the right amount of repeats, not too many and not too little and was visually interesting. It was free, it was a rectangle, and it looked like lace! It also had variations so you could be different if you wanted! I know I said this already but it was perfect! 

      I know what you're thinking, or what I hope you're thinking; how can I join in? Easy! Pick which Cold Mountain you want to climb, the original or a variation.  And start knitting it's that easy! Our goal is to hit 15 rows per week. We are on our third week so we should have just finished doing the 45th row (in each of our patterns.) Note the word should, I am quite behind, but it's okay, with a little work I can catch up. Besides, it's not about if you finish it, but when! 

To all of you who have already joined me in this journey, WE CAN DO IT! We are knitters; we do not give up!

-Josie

For more information on this knit-along please visit the Flowertown Knitting Guild Ravelry page.