Shores of Valinor: A New Mystery Knit-a-Long!

I have been woefully negligent in posting here, especially when there's something so newsworthy going on:

I would say this shawl has been in the works since last summer, but truthfully, I've been batting the idea around since late 2012, when I bought two skeins of a beautiful DK-weight silk/merino blend from a friend of mine (Carolyn of Tale & Tendril). The yellow one is called "Lady of the Golden Wood", and the blue one is "Galadriel's Mirror". I knew when I saw them both in her shop that they belonged together permanently, I just had no idea what project they wanted to become. 

My only criterion in sketching up design ideas for these skeins was that the pattern had to be inspired by Lord of the Rings, or, more specifically, the Lady Galadriel. So after a lot of sketching, exploring, writing, and rewriting, I finally admitted to myself that what the yarn wanted to become wasn't exactly the shimmery, flowy sort of thing that Galadriel herself might wear on an everyday basis. Instead, it was becoming something a little sturdier, a little warmer... Something that you might wear on a long journey... 

At that point, I knew that the pattern had declared itself to be an elven travelling shawl, done up in a golden-sand-and-crystal-blue-seas sort of colorway. The final product is warm and squishy, but also elegant and drapey. 

This is the first clue. The knit-a-long group has already made it to the second (again, apologies for my negligence in posting!), so if you want to join in the fun, see the pattern page on Ravelry, here: Shores of Valinor. The full details of the shawl and the knit-a-long are located there. Happy knitting!

Why I Love Lord of the Rings

Once upon a time, there was a Burger King.

No, I'm not kidding; that's where this story begins. When I was about nine or ten, I went on a field trip with my church youth group-- I can't remember the particular activity now. But whatever it was, it required a break for food on the way to or from it, and so our van stopped at a Burger King.

Being a Capable and Competent girl (who had never done this before), I walked up to the counter with my lunch money in hand and quickly ordered, "Just a kid's meal, please." Surely that was the easiest thing for all parties involved, requiring the least Decision-Making and Talking To Strangers on my part.

So, fully expecting to be at least mildly teased by my just-short-of-tween peers, I brought my food to a table, where I deflected initial inquiries in favor of eating my food and, out of curiosity, finding out what the toy was.

"Lord of the Rings? What's that? It looks kind of creepy..."

This was the initial reaction of the entire table, myself included, when I pulled out the toy, which was a light-up base with a figure called, "Sell-a-born?" "She looks totally creepy..." "Are you sure it's a she?" "Pretty positive." Convinced that the toy was doomed to the Goodwill box if not the trash, I determined to take this Celeborn home (may as well, right?) and show it to my parents to see what they thought of this "Lord of the Rings" thing.

I never would have guessed that my mother would say that Lord of the Rings had been one of her favorite books growing up. I never would have guessed that I'd later find the books and their little prequel and devour them in a matter of days. I never would have guessed that this fandom would become my most deeply rooted literary love, spanning years of rereads and dozens of projects.

I love being able to mix my favorite story with my favorite medium: yarn. So here are some of my favorite patterns and projects that take the realm of Middle-Earth as their inspiration:

Legolas Kerchief, by Susan Pandorf:

I remember discovering Susan Pandorf's designs when I first began looking for beyond-beginner patterns to experiment with. Just out of curiosity, I searched on "Lord of the Rings" in Ravelry's pattern database, and I was pleasantly surprised when I found a few directly inspired by my beloved books. Evenstar, Mithril, Bombadil, Argonath, and Rivendell are just some of my favorites. Seriously, check her out; she's amazing!

Grey Havens, by Maria Olson
This sweater has been at the top of my queue for ages-- I just need to get around to knitting it! The cables are amazing, inspired by misty shores, and the asymmetrical neck is intriguing.


Evenstar Gloves, by Audreym:
The cables on these gorgeous, cozy gloves take inspiration from Arwen Evenstar. This was a pattern I really enjoyed knitting: the cables were simple enough for a beginner to figure out, but also quite interesting. (Also, the pattern is free!)




Beorn Sweater, by Josie Mercier:
This is another really brilliant LotR-inspired sweater, this one evoking warm and cozy Beorning vibes due to its thick cables and comfy fit. (I haven't put the sleeves on mine yet because it makes such a handsome vest!)






Finally, in the Lord of the Rings group on Ravelry, there is a massive database of Middle-Earth-reminiscent patterns that has been compiled by the members there. They're always adding to it, so if you're looking for a Ringish knit, be sure to check it out!

Fellowship! The Shawl

This is one of my favorite projects I've ever made. Not only is it amazingly gratifying that the design was made up out of my own head, but the final project is something I still wear all the time: the colors go with almost everything, and the shape of the shawl makes it so easy to wear a dozen different ways (see my project page on ravelry for some of them). Even more wonderful was watching all of the other projects that have been made with this pattern-- solid, variagated, beaded, you name it! You can find the pattern available here on Ravelry, and the thread for the Knit-a-long here in the Lord of the Rings group.

The idea for this shawl actually began as a scarf based on the same principle: nine distinct charts for nine unique characters. The concept stayed in design limbo for a month or so while I finished up that spring semester and some other projects (as part of Nerd Wars). I even started some swatches, trying to come up with my own lace stitches, learning the ins and outs of yarnovers and the functional differences between a K2tog and an SSK. It wasn't until finals season rolled around that I thought to try to migrate the idea to a shawl.

I was inspired by a set of yarn skeins I had just bought from another raveler, a gradience set of Sushi Sock from Unique Sheep in the colorway Fellowship. I wanted to do something really special with it, something worthy of the yarn's natural beauty (and Lord of the Rings theming). The idea for using it to actually trace the development and journey of the nine characters it was named for wasn't far behind. (And for the curious, the exclamation point in "Fellowship!" comes from "Fellowship! the Musical", an actually really well-done affectionate parody whose soundtrack helped keep the creative juices flowing during this shawl's development process.)

And so red became the One Ring and Boromir, Legolas and Gimli; purple and blue became Aragorn and Merry and Pippin; green became Sam and Frodo. Each chart evolved naturally from the last, yet still tying directly into each respective character. 

(This was the design element that was most important to me for this shawl, because I've seen so many designs and projects that were inspired by Lord of the Rings, but don't say why. When you say your lace is elvish, it makes me curious! I want to know how it ties in!) So that is something I've tried to keep up with each of my designs-- each one comes with its own story, its own tie-in that inspired its colors, shape, stitches, and name. But it all began with this shawl.

Materials: 500 yards of fingering weight yarn. 

Needle: US size 6 circular, or sized to get the drape you want.

Gauge: My gauge was 6 stitches to the inch, but since this is not a fitted garment, gauge can vary.

Finished Measurements: 46 inches wide and 22 inches deep, blocked.