They say two heads are better than one. That’s especially true when those heads belong to two talented knitters and shop owners! In this case, it started with a “recipe” that Shelli Westcott, owner of Knitterly, came up with for a self-fringing shawl. She shared it with Shelley Brander, owner of Loops, who added a bit of her own flavor and created a beautiful new pattern, Fringeworthy.
So how did Shelley personalize her design? It started with the yarn. She picked two shades of Berroco Flicker, switching to the darker shade three-quarters of the way through. Shelley also chose to knit the body in garter stitch instead of stockinette and she created a more gradual v-shape by using a four-row pattern repeat for increases and decreases instead of two.
The shawl is knit as one piece from side-to-side and then comes the fun part – ripping back to reveal the fringe! Shelley calls this the “cringe-worthy” moment but promises it isn’t as bad as it sounds. Want to make a Fringeworthy of your own? You can get the free pattern on the Loops blog!
Find Berroco Flicker at your LYS
How did you choose a yarn for your design?
I picked a yarn I love, Flicker, because I knew it would be super soft on the bigger needles and would resist pilling due to the chainette construction. I also love knitting Flicker at this bigger gauge because I think the tiny bits of sparkle really catch the light. I switched to the second color on a whim, but I love the (unintended) effect that when you wear it bandana-style, it appears that you’re wearing two scarves in layers!
Any knitting disaster stories?
I have a gazillion disaster stories – I think this goes along with designing and is part of the process. You have to be fearless and push through those “cringe-worthy” moments.
If you could knit something for anyone in the world it would be…?
I would love to knit the next big thing for Jennifer Lawrence to wear in the final Hunger Games movie – my kids would think that is so cool! So Jennifer, if you’re reading this, call me!
What’s your favorite thing about knitting?
My favorite thing about knitting is that I can watch TV and be productive at the same time. I have knit for movie stars and I secured my first lease by knitting a cashmere scarf for my landlord!
Do you have a cool design you want to share? Or did you recently finish a project with Berroco yarn? You can email Ashley: apalumbo@berroco.com or post it to the Berroco Lovers forum in Ravelry.
One of the first things I knit, I think it was the first actually, was a self fringing shawl. I had a attended a Knit In Public at a local coffee shop. The woman hosting the event, Carol Fayer, who also runs the Midwest Fiber & Folk Art Fair, got me started knitting and walked me through how to do the self fringing. That was before I even new Ravelry existed. I should put that shawl on my page. I am still very proud of it.
Aw, this was an incredibly nice post. Finding the time and actual effort to
produce a very good article… but what can I say… I
hesitate a lot and never seem to get anything done.
The link leads to a 404 error. Is the pattern not only not free but no longer available?
Hi Chris, looks like the URL for the pattern changed slightly. You can now find it here: http://blog.loopslove.com/2014/01/fringeworthy-a-free-self-fringing-shawl-pattern/