Occasus

Last year, with a few other novice knitwear designers, I submitted a shawl pattern in a book proposal. The book was picked up for publication, but my shawl was not destined to be a part of it.

So, I have finally gotten my act together to publish it myself.

"Publish" is such a weighty word, isn't it? I'm offering it myself, really. For sale. The price and BUY NOW button are at the end of this post. In the interrim, the details...

Occasus Shawl


Approx. size after blocking: 57" x 57"
Yarn: Schachenmayr nomotta Regia Hand-dye Effect (fingering weight), less than 1836 yards/four skeins
Needle size: US 5/3.75 mm

Occasus is Latin for “setting of the sun.” It is the source of the English word occasion. This square shawl marks the moments when the sun sinks to reveal the night sky, and it offers the opportunity to make the most ordinary event in life into an occasion. (I've already worn the shawl to an art reception. I felt so very artsy schmartsy, you know.)



The shawl is worked from the center out. This is the field of stars.



The shawl’s size can be increased or decreased in the pattern section before the edging, the field of sunsets section.



Each edging piece (the flared “sun rays” border) is worked separately and grafted onto the shawl with the kitchener stitch. Tips are included to recalculate the edging cast on stitches if the shawl size has been altered.

This shawl was a challenge to design. It involved math. And while I love the results and tried to apply the transition of sunset to starry night to a novelty knits book, I agree that this project is a little too innocuous for the book's playfully macabre theme. Live and learn, right? I got a cool shawl out of the effort. If you'd like the pattern, too, the price and BUY NOW button are below.

Occasus Shawl

$6.00 US