I have another pattern available, this one is really a favorite of mine; the Coral Palace Shawl. Now as a kid I have to admit that I was a little obsessed with Mermaids, not unusual I know, and as an adult I can look back and see that really it was a love of water and the ocean which had me so fixated on mermaids. I mean can you even imagine living underwater all the time? that gorgeous coral all around you, colorful fish, waving sea plants?
There was a book at my elementary school library that depicted a mermaid and her palace, an underwater citadel of organic corals that flowed from one room to the next. It was very Gaudian in nature and later in my art career when I was studying Gaudi it hit home how much I appreciate and enjoy this type of design. Below you can see the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, a building that is still being worked on to this day, designed by Gaudi.
This shot is an interior photo of the Nave in the Sagrada Familia
But perhaps my favorite of his works is this apartment building called the Casa Batllo, it was created out of an already existing building and is a fascinating piece of work.
When swatching stitch patterns for the Coral Palace shawl I kept coming back around to these undulating shapes and curved openings, creating an organic architecture for the flickering underwater colors to breathe in.
Coral Palace is worked from the bottom up and needs a very loose cast on. It uses a combination of double yarnovers and triple wrapped stitches with dramatic 13 stitch decreases to create the scallop shell imagery on the bottom border. The entire shawl is based on garter stitch with the exception of the odd single purl stitch to work the WS of the double yarnovers. The center section is worked with short rows that shape the shawl into a delicate crescent, and the top border is worked with a smaller interpretation of the large border.
FINISHED MEASUREMENTS
60” long and 15” tall at widest point
MATERIALS
madelinetosh Twist Light [75% merino, 25% nylon; 420 yds]; color peace of paradise, pattern uses 92% of skein when worked at stated gauge.
1 US #7/4.5mm 24 inch circular needle, using a ‘sharp’ or lace needle is best for working the k13tog.
Tapestry needle,
GAUGE
14 sts/30 rows = 4” in garter stitch after blocking, gauge is not crucial but may affect yardage.
Thanks so much to my lovely model and amazing friend Ivory
Thanks so much to my lovely model and amazing friend Ivory
