Get Cozy with the Paperdawn Shawl

I love a good worsted weight shawl because it’s almost like wearing a blanket, or having a blanket with you all the time that you can throw over your shoulders, or over your legs as you need it.

Paperdawn by Melanie Berg is such a project. It’s a large asymmetrical triangle worked in garter stitch and mosaic colorwork using three colors of worsted weight yarn. It’s easy to knit and to wear in place of a scarf or as an extra bit of warmth to have at the ready as the days start to get a little warmer. Which I’m sure will happen eventually.

The shawl has a wingspan of 102.5 inches/260 cm on the longest side and is 27.5 inches or 70 centimeters deep. The pattern is available on Ravelry and it comes in English, Spanish and German.

What’s really cool about this pattern, and many of Melanie’s shawls and other patterns, is the inclusion of what she calls a Row Map. The row map was originally developed by Chad Lewis of Chad Knits, who designed it as a detailed worksheet to follow to help knitters keep track of where they are and what they need to do from row to row in their project.

The intent was to help knitters dealing with “chemo brain” from cancer treatment, because it can be difficult for them to follow patterns and remember where they are or what’s happening in the pattern from row to row or day to day. Chad shared the row map concept with Melaine, who is herself a cancer survivor, and she started incorporating them into her projects.

The page linked above shows an example of what the map looks like, with space for which color is which and a place to mark off each row and double check you have the correct number of stitches. I can see how this would be helpful for lots of knitters.

“We believe that with the help of a Row Map, all knitters facing concentration challenges can confidently pick up their needles and continue knitting with ease,” they said. They ask that anyone who finds them helpful donate to a cancer charity in their home country (there are links on Chad’s website and Melanie’s row map page on Ravelry).

[Photo: Melanie Berg]

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Not too long ago I was seeing a crochet pattern for a glasses holder shaped like a bear all over the Internet. It was super cute, and also useful as a place to put your glasses on your bedside table instead of just throwing them somewhere random.

This project stewed in my brain for a little while and I decided I needed to make a knit version, but I didn’t want to make a bear. If you know anything about me you might know that I’m a cat person, so of course my version had to be a cat.

The base is just a basic little basic worked from the center out to the desired size, then up the sides as long as you want them. Knit some ears and add embellishments to make it whatever kind of animal you want.

The way I figured out to work the base from the center out was to use a crochet cast on, which gives you an easier way to pick up stitches from the back of the cast on than if you worked a more traditional cast on for a knitting project. It’s kind of fun to do things in a different way from time to time.

This little project is adorable if I do say so myself, and even as a plain little basket not made into an animal it’s a cute way to keep your glasses or other little things in one place. I’m tempted to make one for my desk to hold pens or even little little scissors and sewing needles that are always on my desk but somehow always seem to get lost on my desk.

If you need a little holder for your glasses on your table, check out the pattern at Our Daily Craft.

[Photo: Our Daily Craft]

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