Helen’s Shawl

This one’s for you Gram

After posting my “what’s on my needles Wednesday” this week, I got a few comments from different family members that this shawl reminded them of my grandmother Helen. More specifically, it reminded them of the afghans my grandma crocheted for them. I took a step back from my knitting and took in the colors in Helen’s Shawl (before I gave it her name) and a wave of nostalgia hit me.

I’ve said it in other posts, but if my grandmother Helen had lived longer, I probably would have ended up crocheting instead of knitting. She tried to teach me but I was too young and rambunctious to sit still for too long. She was prolific, making us grandkids baby blankets and afghans for just about everyone she knew.

My mind was made up. I was resolved to name this knitting pattern after her. Before posting it though, I looked into the name a bit more.

Yes, it’s Greek – whopping surprise there (Hello Helen of Troy). But when I got down to the bit about numerology – something I know absolutely nothing about…I got another sweet surprise.

Again, I don’t put much stock in these things, but my grandmother liked the number 8. If there was a horserace, she wanted number 8 to win. No one ever really knew why – she must have just liked the number. Well, I guess the number 8 is associated with the name Helen. And this shawl, works in 16 sections. It was like it was meant to be. I like to think that she was sitting with me all these nights I was knitting. Though she’s been gone a long while, wearing this one feels like a hug from her.

What’s in Helen’s Shawl?

There’s garter rows, stockinette rows, and a bit of Andalusian Knit stitch. Oh and there’s a really fun horizontal braid or cable (also known as the vikkel braid or estonian braid). You can find a tutorial on that here.

Yarn: Lion Brand Yarn’s Ferris Wheel in “Cherry on Top”.

This pattern requires four skeins, but simply add sections in the established pattern to make it bigger (or remove them to make the shawl smaller).

Oh and grab a US Size 8 circular needle.

Abbreviations:

How to get Helen’s Shawl

You can buy it for $2.50 here on Ravelry.