Knitting for My Nuptuals
The Joy and Pressure of Knitting a Wedding Shawl
Earlier this year Christian and I got engaged, soon after we started thinking about the wedding and what we wanted. We’re horses of a different color when it comes to most things (We’d rather sit around a campfire than go to a bar, rather take a hike than go shopping, and rather a huge yard than a big house), so we knew that there would be a good chance that our wedding would be different as well. We chose a beautiful little venue where I grew up. We picked a friend for a caterer, a cousin for a canter, and are going pretty low key with just about everything. Literally to the point where are parents are asking if this is really what we want.
Together we decided on a Bavarian theme for our wedding, because it fits for both of families, it’s food that we love and it’s basically us in a nutshell. My dress and everything down to the food is pretty traditional when it comes to a Bavarian wedding. The date is set for April…which seeing as we live in Western Pennsylvania basically means that we cannot count on the weather at all. It could be one of those years where it’s sixty degrees and the sun is shining, or it could be snowing…or anything in between. A shawl is the perfect accessory for an April bride, and being a knitter, I can’t bring myself to buy one.
Queue the weeks of searching and fretting over patterns. I had never knit a lace shawl before, so every pattern I thought to myself “What if I spend weeks on it and find I can’t do it?”. My cousin who is my loverly maid of honor and I searched for patterns. Together we found a beautiful triangular knit shawl that I test knit (and now have a beautiful Christmas present to gift someone because at that time we had no idea what our dresses would look like – let alone what color they would be. So I went to town with the first color that caught my eye). I think Christian was actually starting to get worried
So I went out to buy some yarn from the local yarn store – eek! I feel in love with a beautiful white silk lace weight yarn…it was $35 per skein…but it was imported from Germany so I took it as a sign and ran with it. The store owner herself is German so she was gushing over our newly formed wedding plans and made me promise to return with the dress and the shawl.
About another week or so of fretting and searching for a pattern passed before I realized – why not go back to a source that has never done me wrong?? Off to Purl Soho I went (on my computer of course, as they’re based in NYC). And there it was, a simple but stunning wedding shawl pattern. It was a bit of a rocky start – which was my fault, as I should have learned from my first attempt at lace, that it’s not a good idea to mix wine and conversation with a lace pattern…Anyway after ripping it out, twice, I’m finally on my way and making good progress!
If you’re into spoilers, or want to knit the shawl for yourself – you can check it out here.
I’ve posted a few teasers on Instagram and everyone is saying that they can’t wait to see the finished product – talk about pressure – when the big reveal is in a church and everyone is staring at you instead of the priest. I got this. Or, so I keep telling myself.
