The " Patricia Shawl"

The Patricia Shawl

"Your work is so beautiful. I'd love to order one! Please let me know how?" - Patricia K.

The Story: Such a wonderful reach out and compliment for the work I have done thus far and posted on Facebook! Thank you Patricia!

So, we began the conversations to dive into pattern selections, yarn selections, making small swatches to see what works best. This exploration with clients makes me happy.

Parameters for this - 100% silk because we love the way silk drapes, flows, and is so light and luxurious. Colors in shades of Blues, Purples, Pinks, Hunter greens etc.

Facebook (SnipsofYarn) and Instagram (Snipsofyarn_kcoolkit)

A few words: "I loved the process of creating my shawl with Kirti. She really takes the time to understand why you're interested in the creation, what your likes and dislikes are, and she has great suggestions about the best colors and yarns to make the shawl look its best. I love how the intensity of the colors change depending on the light. My shawl will be a keepsake that I'll enjoy wearing for years to come." - Patricia Knight (September 2021)


Status: Complete and Shipped!
23 hours over 3 days! One of my fastest focused work.

Patterns, Patterns, Patterns!

So many of them and so little time to do all of them.

Juniper

Sarayu

Cluster Goddess

"V"-Ivy

Diagonale

How do I select a set of patterns for the client? The conversations with the client enable me to glean what the client is drawn to, loves, and desires. That allows me to fill my mind and heart with their ideas and I spend first 90ish minutes just going through tones of patterns. This is laser focused, no distractions, just fast, 10-15 second reactions to patterns with the client's parameters in mind. I might go back over, and search some more if the client just dislikes all of them. However, that has yet to happen. With a few dozen patterns, now I go through them individually in more detail, spending goodly 5-7 minutes (or more), to understand the patterns, yarns used, availability of the design, copyright and considerations for the original artist. A dedicated video/presentation is created to send to client without any coloration of my preference. After all it is their shawl.

We have Winning Selection .... Cluster Goddess (The Purple Poncho - crochet by Carolyn)

Pattern Selection - Done!!

Now for the yarn selection! The yarn used here is Red hart Parfait (and with 6 mm, and 3.75 hooks). It is very airy, breezy, and looks amazing with yarn carrying the color variegations. It is going to be a interesting exploration (and a challenge) to see how we can achieve something similar in silks.
The pattern is simply lovely.


Yarn(s) & Hook Selection Testing

The best way (I know) to select a different yarn for a pattern is to make swatches. Yes, this takes time and trials, but this time spent is worth in gold! More time I spend in this, the better the end result has always shown to be. So, I don't know why crafters dislike doing this.

The top 3 rows - Single strand 100% silk with 3.25 mm
The next 3 rows - same silk with 5 mm
The next 4 rows - same silk with 5.5 mm
The next 3 rows - double strand (one with 100% silk and one with 70% silk and 30% mohair) with 5.5 mm
The last two rows - double strand of 100% silk.

Yarn & Combinations! (oh! the possibilities!)

Kismet
Either Single or Double strand
Luminance "Kismet"

Kind
Either Single or Double strand
Hand-painted Luminance "Kind"

Serendipity
Either Single or Double strand
Luminance "Serendipity"

Soar
Either Single or Double strand
Luminance "Soar"

Dedication
Either Single or Double strand
Luminance "Dedication"

Justice
Either Single or Double strand
Hand-painted Luminance "Justice"

Kismet & Blush
Double strand
Luminance "Kismet" with Aloft "Blush"

Kismet & Eggplant
Double strand
Luminance "Kismet" with Aloft "Eggplant"

Kismet & Sydney
Double strand
Luminance "Kismet" with Aloft hand-painted "Sydney"

Kismet & Rio
Double strand
Luminance "Kismet" with Aloft hand-painted "Rio"

Deep Burgundy, Pinks and Purples
Options:

  1. Main body clusters with silk and silk+mohair, and ending with "V" and scallops with double strand silk.

  2. first 1/2 of main body with combination such as Kismet+Sydney, then keeping Kismet going, but add Rio and end with double strand Kismet

  3. Or do (2), but end with double strand of Kind.

  4. Or replace in (1), (2), (3) with Kind.

Soar & Celestial
Double strand
Luminance "Soar" with Aloft "Celestial"

Dedication & Eggplant
Double strand
Luminance "Dedication" with Aloft "Eggplant"

Serendipity & Iceberg
Double strand
Luminance "Serendipity" with Aloft "Iceberg"

Serendipity & Labyrinth
Double strand
Luminance "Serendipity" with Aloft "Labyrinth"

Blues or Deep Greens
Options:

5. Similar to the burgundy options, but the gradations here might not be the best options. Ideally these will look great with main body with the combination of silk and silk+mohair, and ending the "V" and scalloped edge with double strand of silk.

Winning Yarns

In the order from the top

  • Kismet & Sydney: Double strand
    Luminance "Kismet" with Aloft hand-painted "Sydney"

  • Kismet & Rio: Double strand
    Luminance "Kismet" with Aloft hand-painted "Rio"

  • Kind: Either Single or Double strand. Hand-painted Luminance "Kind"

Kismet & Sydney

Kismet & Rio

Kind

Winning Yarns (revised)

Once I got the yarn, I had to make a few revisions, the Kismet and Rio just didn't "sing" well. I believe that the Rio turned out to be a lot more purple hues than burgundy.

I wish for the day when photography, web-colors and what the actual colors are completely match!

Surprisingly though - the Kismet and Rio didn't jell, but Kind and Rio seemed to create a good pop and shine combination.

Kismet & Sydney

Kind & Rio

A focused marathon

I am traveling and didn't want to lug all the yarns around. My options were to finish it before I embarked on my trip, or do it during my trip and ship it from where I am (or when I return). My client (super gracious and sweet), didn't mind either. This made me double down and get this lofty-silky goodness in her hands before I left.

This means a "Focused Marathon"!

One of the fastest crochet - 23 hours (over 3 days) - my thumb has a cramp!

Finished (and remembered to take pictures), and shipped to a happy client.

23 Hours (over 3 days) Work

Now for restful - Blocking!!

Blocking Close up

Love the Result!
(now to make one for myself)

Making a Statement

Edging's make all the difference