They seek him here, they seek him there…
Noblesse Oblige is out today! And if I do say so myself, this is a fun one. This post is going to be commensurately long, so if you just want to know where you can get this and what the discount code is, skip thou to the bottom and the info is there.
Per my earlier allusions, this shawl is inspired by the 1982 version of The Scarlet Pimpernel, starring Anthony Andrews, Jane Seymour, and Ian McKellen. It’s a suspenseful and hilarious adventure movie with crazy plot twists and loads of derring-do, and it gets better with every rewatch. The hero, Sir Percy Blakeney, saves victims of the French Revolution using his vast wealth and an assortment of wacky disguises. He also acts like a fool (but a witty one) at public events to cover his tracks. Many, including the great Stan Lee himself, consider him to be the forerunner of modern superheroes such as Iron Man/Tony Stark and Bruce Wayne/Batman. Basically, he’s the first modern example of the formula rich guy assumes alter ego and uses his collected gizmos to save the world. Percy doesn’t have a nanotech suit or a bat plane, but he does have a yacht and the fastest horses in England, so close enough. It’s the 18th century after all.
I picked up the yarns that became this shawl without a clue what I was going to make, but the same night I sat down to watch The Scarlet Pimpernel for approximately the umpteenth time (as you do) with the skeins next to me, just to have them to look at. But one look at Percy’s costume below and the lightbulb went off. The movie as a whole features a lovely palette of pastel colors and lots of extravagant lacework and beading, and I jumped off from there.
Percy is hands down one of my all-time favorite fictional characters. He’s brave, kind, funny, slightly devious but never ruthless, and an unapologetic fashionista; and he isn’t afraid to look absurd for a good cause. He snarks delightfully on his archnemesis, Paul Chauvelin, to his face at every opportunity, falls in deeply love and is faithful to the end, and never leaves his friends behind. As an adult, I notice his mistakes more than I did when I watched the movie as a kid—believing the rumors about Marguerite betraying the Marquis de St. Cyr without giving her a chance to tell her side of the story was not cool, as was giving her the silent treatment rather than talking it through; and hiding his secret identity from her ended up causing both of them a lot of unnecessary heartache. All the same, he clearly learned his lesson by the end, so it’s hard to hold it against him.
The shawl itself came together pretty quickly once the inspiration popped up. I knew I wanted something a bit frothy and blingy, since that pretty much describes most of everyone’s wardrobe choices in the entire movie. (Other than Chauvelin. But he’s the villain, so his lack of a fashion sense doesn’t count.) To reflect Percy’s shifting identities, I chose just a couple of distinct lace motifs and made the rest of the stitch patterns variations on those. It’s a surprisingly easy, fast knit. There’s little shaping and the shifting lace patterns keep things interesting, but still approachable for a new lace knitter. You’ll need 2 skeins of fingering weight yarn; exact yarn amounts are in the pattern. I will say it’s a great stashbuster, so if you’ve got some half skeins kicking around in your stash, this is a great way to use them.
You can find the pattern on Ravelry and on Payhip, as usual. It’s 10% off with the code NOBILITY until midnight EST on June 8, but be sure to shop around—the code also applies to all my other knit lace shawl patterns! You can find those bundled for your convenience on Ravelry and Payhip, too.
If I haven’t convinced you to buy the shawl, I hope at least I’ve convinced you to watch the movie. Please do. It’s a really, really good one. (There is some light adult content, so heads up if you plan to watch with kids.) Of course, you could always knit on your shawl while you watch it. I daresay Percy would approve. Maybe I’m past due for a movie night myself…
I purchased Noblesse Oblige and I could not put down my needles until 330 in the morning. This pattern is so much easier than it looks, I almost feel like I’m cheating. I love how it’s knitting up and I especially love how concisely written the pattern is and the charts are simply the easiest charts I’ve ever encountered in a pattern. I hope one day I might be able to design a masterpiece of my own that is as beautiful as this. For now, like a great paint-by-numbers piece is to a novice painter, your pattern is making me look like a fabulous knitter. Thank you so very much. I can’t wait to show you my finished project!
Oh wow, I’m thrilled to hear you love the pattern! It was meant to be a fun, relaxing knit, and I’m glad it’s been that for you. I can’t wait to see your shawl come together. Thank you for the kind words!