If you follow me on Instagram you will have seen the photos of a short row Tunisian scarf I was working on a while ago. I completed it about a month ago already but just never got around to taking photos or writing a post about it. I did promise I would share it both on Instagram and Facebook, and I finally managed to fit it all in. Maybe the fact that I’m now also ‘forced’ to blog once a week for Your Family Magazine for a few months also played a role. The weekly blog posts have definitely helped me to free my writing brain up. What did I say last week about creative block? It definitely is true 😉
Anyway… on to the Pax shawl a beautiful lacy short row Tunisian shawl designed by Aoibhe Ni. I first saw a link to the shawl on Facebook and since I love anything Tunisian I decided that I would have to make it! It took a while to find the pattern because the link from Facebook led nowhere but I eventually found it on Ravelry. (Don’t you just LOVE Ravelry?) I downloaded the pattern and printed it immediately and then sat staring at the strange chart for a while, not having a clue as to what was going on. Luckily Aoibhe has a YouTube channel and explains how to read her charts very well. You don’t even need to find a video for the Pax shawl, once you know how the charts are constructed you can jump straight in to the pattern. It’s basically a repetition of two different Charts. You complete one row with the first chart crochet back to the beginning with a row of singe crochets (remember Tunisian is worked from one side) and the follow the second chart. To complete the shawl you crochet a row of single crochets interspersed by picot stitches.
The awesome thing about this shawl is that, even though it’s a Tunisian shawl you do not need a Tunisian crochet hook. Since Aoibhe’s pieces are all designed with short rows you can use a normal crochet hook, although I would suggest using one without a thumb rest, since that will change your tension.
The suggested yarn is a lace weight yarn from Hedgehog Fibres in Ireland. Needless to say I did not use it, since buying yarn from overseas is quite pricey. One skein, maybe but enough for an entire shawl? I can’t afford that at the moment. I used Vinnis Colours Serina yarn, which is a four ply bamboo yarn. It probably means that my shawl does not look quite like Aoibhe envisaged it but I had enough of it lying around and I really love how it turned out.
I love how the shawl falls and it’s quite versatile in the way that it can be worn. I’ve been able to wear it a few times, even though we’re heading into summer here and I absolutely adore it. I think I may make a second one in a lace weight wool, just so I can see what it is actually supposed to look like 🙂