WIP | Could Be a Wrap

In this corner of the world, it's winter. Snow is coating the ground, and it's cold outside. Very cold.

This means every shawl in the lineup is getting a workout, because alone or in combination, I wear some type of wrap almost every day. Light, soft and cozy, they're the ideal extra layer when I crave a little more warmth, a splash of color or both.

This daily wear has created what can only be described as a shawl shortage. To address this knitwear crisis, I began searching through the stash for soft merino to make another shawl.

That's when I realized that while winter is far from over, according to the calendar, spring is hovering on the horizon. As lovely as spring can be, in this region it's always unpredictable. Temperatures rise just enough to tantalize, then they plummet bringing ice and snow storms in their wake.

In other words, just like swatches, calendars sometimes lie.

The obvious solution is to knit something warm enough to wear now and versatile enough to transition into spring. Naturally, it also needed to be fast and easy with clean lines, a reversible stitch and modular construction.

With these factors in mind, I began to experiment. In the end, I landed on a combination of RicRac (Blue Heron) yarn, a pretty but challenging rayon boucle, paired with black Cotton Fleece (Brown Sheep). This approach produced tweedy stripes that prevented pooling and toned down the variegation. It also contributed a touch of wool for warmth and resilience, but preserved the fabric's season-spanning qualities.

Working with these vivid colors has been a wonderful antidote to the winter gloom and cold, so the pile of modules has grown. Now, it's time to make some decisions.

Stitching all the seams closed would create a slip-on poncho. Leaving one seam open would create something that's a cross between a cape, shawl and ruana for more wearing options.

I'm leaning toward the latter (thoughts? suggestions?) and eager to get assembly underway, because once the seams are finished and a few ends are woven, well ... This could be a wrap.

UPDATE

For those who've inquired, the Alaris pattern has been released. You can read more about it here. To buy it now, click here.