Faroese Lace Shawls

Have you ever tried knitting a Faroese lace shawl? They're different from the shawls with which you may already be familiar. Instead of a triangular, circular, or semi circular shape, these shawls are shaped more like butterfly wings. The special shaping makes Faroese shawls drape beautifully and stay put on the shoulders, even without a pin. The ends of some Faroese shawls are slender and long, making them easy to tie around the shoulders, or even around the waist or hips for a shirt or apron effect.

See some pictures of Faroese shawls here:

• http://tariblog.blogspot.com/2006/12/shetland-lace-patterned-faroese-shawl.html
• http://www.heartstringsfiberarts.com/faroeses.shtm
• http://www.siviaharding.com/Shetland.html

Have I peaked your curiosity? If you're ready to give Faroese lace shawls a try, sign up for Marilyn von Keppel's Faroese Knitted Lace Shawl Sampler class at Hillcreek Yarn Shoppe 10am-5pm, Saturday, February 3rd. The cost is $65 with lunch included. For all you vegetarians out there, I did check and yes, there will be a vegetarian option for lunch. Personally, I'm hoping for the official Hillcreek pizza: Alfredo, artichoke and spinach. Mmmmm. You can bet I'll be there, and not just for the pizza either. I'm very excited about learning this new technique.

We have an unusual opportunity to take classes with experts in their fields of knitting at Hillcreek. Many of the special instructors Bex engages are the same specialists who teach at knitting expos like Stitches Midwest. And it's brought right here to Columbia, where you don't have to pay for travel or accommodations. This is one of those opportunities. There's another class coming up in March, with Melissa Leapman, a world renowned author and designer, who will be teaching us Celtic cables. If you can cast on, knit and purl with confidence, you're ready to try cables. Honestly, they aren't nearly as hard as they are beautiful.