In Abigail's shawl, the motif is meant to represent the white pine cone - the state flower of Maine. Worked in stockinette, as here, the decreases create a diamond grid that surrounds the openwork. It is closely related to the traditional Shetland "fir cone" pattern. The center of the shawl consists of a square panel of the pattern variously called fern lace or leaf lace (Barbara Walker) or candlelight (Sharon Miller). I confess that about halfway through MISERICORDIA I began to wish the Latin word for compassion were somewhat shorter. With those, Abigail should be well-equipped to deal with anything life has to offer. The wishes, written in Latin as befits a solemn occasion, are: four lozenges surrounded by faggot stitch, each containing a wish for the baby.Sharon Miller's double scallop shell edging, and.The edging comprises two design elements: If you just can't bear it, choose another project. If you want to design your own lace, you'd better be prepared to swatch. However, swatching did minimize the unpleasant and definitely led to a better finished product. I swatched everything, and there were still surprises both pleasant and unpleasant. The inspiration came for the final design came, oddly, from an afternoon spent flipping through photographs I took of inscriptions at Ostia Antica, the ruins of the ancient seaport of Rome.
Odd as it may sound, I didn't want the shawl to appear too delicate.Īnd I knew I wanted the design to include words, a message of some kind to Abigail. Maine is breathtakingly beautiful, but the beauty is fierce. I wanted it to have a certain robust beauty appropriate to the rugged terrain and the forthright people who live on it. That said, I knew that shawl had to include motifs appropriate to Maine. Third, all motifs in the shawl center and borders had to read well on a stockinette ground, as I would be knitting in the round and wanted to be able to knit all the plain rows instead of purling them. Second, if at all possible all motifs had to alternate a row of patterned knitting with a row of plain knitting in order to save time and keep the level of difficulty moderate. First, all motifs used had to have small repeats that I could memorize easily and work anywhere (including the subway) without a chart. It was, furthermore, to be my first large piece of lace knitting and my first piece of lace design.
I knew I had to make this piece from start to finish on a tight schedule. An inspiration to not throw the knitting out the window or run it through the shredder on days when, for example, one of the sides somehow acquired three extra stitches.again. It was she who introduced me to Sharon Miller's work, to Bridget Rorem's lace alphabet, and she who provided me with the Latin translations of the words worked into the shawl edging.īeyond that, Jean's good-humored descriptions of her own works-in-progress have also been an inspiration. Jean's work, displayed and beautifully annotated on her Web site, stirred the lace-knitting impulse in my soul. The project also had a long-distance godmother: Jean Miles.