Some things never get old.
Of all the knitting books in my library, Romi Hill’s New Lace Knitting is my absolute favorite; my absolute favorite design from it (and it’s chock-full of beauties) is her Crystal Bay Shawl. I knitted myself one years ago out of some black merino/silk laceweight yarn, playing a white-knuckled game of yarn chicken at the very end, and wore it regularly for a while; eventually, however, it ended up half-forgotten at the bottom of my shawl drawer. (Yes, there is a drawer…)
But last week I needed a black shawl for an outfit and Crystal Bay is the only black shawl I have, so I pulled it out. It was a little crumpled and a little pilled, but still classy for all that.
When the time came to put it on, I tried to remember how I used to wear it. How many ways can I wear this thing? The answer is, a whole lot of ways.
Take this…
or this…
or this…
or this…
or how about this?
Granted, most of these would be hard to keep in place without pinning; the last style is how I chose to wear mine and a small lapel-type pin was perfect to keep it from slipping. It’s elegant, easy, and keeps my arms free to move, with just a tad bit of warmth if I’m inside under air conditioning but breathable if I’m outside in our hot, humid summers (which remind me a little of being cooked sous-vide).
This shawl is absolute genius.
Of course, the show-stopper lace edging is the main feature; but a lot of shawls with far more complicated lace aren’t this classy, wearable, and fun to knit.
The first thing is the shape. The garter-stitch portion increases three stitches on every row, rather than the more conventional two or four; this gives the shawl some swing and curve without being too extreme (a more pronounced curve would make it impossible to wear the shawl simply thrown over the shoulders as above, or at least make it extremely unwieldy).
Secondly, the garter-stitch portion itself. I love shawls that begin with intricate lace and simplify towards the edge (such as my own Fenestra), but have discovered that they’re not the most practical for wear, as the more interesting part of the shawl often ends up scrunched up against the neck and out of sight. With Crystal Bay, on the other hand, the edging always ends up showing to the best advantage, while the plain top can be scrunched to your heart’s content—or not.
Third, versatility. The stretches of simple garter and mesh allow the shawl to be dressed down (I’ve worn mine bandanna-style with jeans), while the bold edging can be quite upscale with a cocktail dress and heels. And as if that weren’t enough, the pattern includes multiple sizes for different yardages and weights of yarn, and is easily adjustable for a custom look and fit.
Of course after thinking through the reasons for my enthusiasm, I now want to make another (despite the fact that I almost never, ever make things twice). Or three. I can see these being great outfit accents, great gifts, and great stashbusters. Mentally I went through my stash this week hunting for potential matches and came up with these.
Above is some leftover Madelinetosh Twist Light from my Ammonite Top earlier this year; the look would be much different from my black laceweight Crystal Bay, but this yarn blocks and drapes beautifully. While these half-balls have been slated for an Adeline shawl, I’m beginning to think persistently about how I’ve never crocheted in fingering weight.
I’ve been dreaming up projects for this tangled pile of Miss Babs Woodbury before I even finished the project that these skeins were originally meant for. (I did finish it, by the way; more on that another day!) There’s about 500 yards here, which would make a generous crescent; and after wearing my other project in this yarn, I can attest to how crisp and elegant the finished product will be.
The final option is this skein of SweetGeorgia Seasilk Lace, which I’ve been planning to use for some TBD wear-with-anything wardrobe piece. The yardage is generous, and it’s a heavy laceweight in a light fiber, which would save me from the yarn chicken and give me a slightly larger shawl.
Of course I could make Crystal Bay three times so that I can try all these options; but we’ll see how long my attention span lasts. If you’ve been following this blog for a while you’ll recall what happened last time I made the same shawl four times!
