July 1 is less than a week away. That’s when the Tour de France starts, and with it my annual KAL. This year’s shawl is Echinacea. It’s time for a few pictures and more details about the pattern.
The blue sample is a medium sized 3 section version in heavy lace weight (~600yd/100g). I used Valley Yarns 2/10 Merino/Tencel Colrain Lace.
The purple & pink sample is a small sized 2 section version in fingering weight (~400yd/100g). I used almost a full skein of Madelinetosh Eyre Light in Flashdance, and about half a skein of Persian Rose.
What will you need?
Here are some simple outlines show you the basic shapes of the 2, 3, and 4 section shawls. Each section is a truncated triangle and each shawl is worked from the top down:
So that’s the shape side of things. Next up is size. The shawl begins with 1) a stockinette section punctuated by lace, followed by 2) a lace section with diamonds.
For the small size, each chart is worked once.
For the medium size, section 2’s repeat is worked twice.
For the large size, both section 1 and section 2’s repeats are worked twice.
Finally, there’s yarn choice. I’ve done the estimation for 3 different weights of yarn. I’ve also listed approximate stitch counts of each size, so if you do the swatch that’s part of the pattern right now, you’ll have an even better idea of how much of *your* yarn it’ll take.
TdF KAL Prizes
The Tour de France KAL will be run in my Ravelry group, and as usual there are prizes for everyone: participants, finishers, people who have issues, and people who don’t have time to participate but want to hang out. Prizes will be chosen in the following order, and I’ll post tomorrow with the full list of prizes.
Prize Selection Order:
1. Maillot Jaune: Yellow Jersey – Finished object from this thread with the most (love).
2. Maillot Vert: Green Jersey – random draw from first 5 finishers in this thread.
3. Maillot à Pois Rouges – Polka Dot Jersey: The mountain prize will go to the person whose tale of woe in this thread has the most (love).
4. Maillot Blanc – White Jersey: This prize for rookies will be drawn from among the list of finishers who tag their project with the “white-jersey”. It’s up to you to decide whether or not you belong in this category.
5. Finishers: A draw will be done among all finishers who haven’t already won a prize. Just post your FO in this thread.
6. Lanterne Rouge: Started but didn’t finish? You’ll be eligible for a draw for this prize, provided you’ve got a picture of your progress on your project page.
7. Past Glory: You wanted to do one of my previous TdF KAL patterns instead? Go ahead. Post your finished object in this thread to be eligible.
8. Red Devil (Spectators): We don’t all have the time and space to compete in the Tour. Follow along and cheer on the competitors. Random draw from among members of my Ravelry group and my mailing list. The inspiration comes from Didi Senft, a notorious spectator, bike-builder, and cycling fanatic. Here’s a great short video of Didi.
So now that the shawl design is a little clearer, what tempts you? I love the contrast of the border on my 2 section sample, but I love the drape of the 3 section sample. Perhaps I need to knit another!
