The First Triangle Shawl

As promised yesterday, here is the first shawl to be completed from our mountain of triangles. Unlike the many snapshots I have taken where heads were inadvertently out of the frame, this time I meant it. The shawl is intended to be the star in the forefront and Meg and I are as wee images in reflection in the mirror.

When I collected the shawl from Meg, I knew it would be lovely and also that there would be stories and laughs about the efforts and creativity to make it. "You don't know how things are going to turn out when you begin," said Meg. I agree. So for me seeing the finished product so well turned out was a sigh of relief. I never doubted that it would work, but I had no idea how it would turn out.

Meg is a skilled knitter and a trained artist, so she can make her flowers behave and knows how to put colours together so they get along well. The front of the shawl is finished with a pair of these lovely flowers on either side. The trim was knitted separately and then crocheted to the main part of the shawl. It gives the shawl not only a lovely decorative edge but also makes it hang nicely. Most importantly, Meg added her own good wishes into the shawl so whoever gets it can enjoy both the craft and the good will.

The idea for the shawls and their use here in Caithness came from the shawl ministry. One of our members discovered it in a book about knitting for peace. When we began the idea of Northern Loops, that seed of an idea was there and it is a pleasure now to begin to see it come to fruition.