Susurrate Shawl
The story of a shawl and the birth of a designer!!
A little over a year ago I got an email from my dear friend Cara ( aka January One) asking me if I was interested in working with her on a design she was had a vision for that she was slightly obsessed with. I am pretty much always game to work on pretty much anything with Cara. I believe in her and we usually have all kinds of fun! Also… I was super intrigued by what she sent me in her email.
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“So I’m trying my hand at designing a brioche shawl. I’ve had this idea in my head for forever and I can’t get it out so I’m putting it to needles and yarn. I’m attaching a picture of what I have so far. I’m using the leftovers from my eyeball shawl. My idea is that it’s a tree, with branches at the top that flow into big leaves then smaller leaves which flows into flowers and buds at the bottom and then a flower-ish border.If you like what I have so far, want to talk about yarn? I want to use lightweight. ❤️❤️❤️❤️”
I was interested. No, that’s not correct, I was hooked. I mean look at that initial photo. Also I know my friend and I knew she would knit her vision into a stunning reality so…of she went.
And Susurrate was born!
I received the first swatch picture in the middle on May and then this finished one on July 3rd. Now it does not look like it in this picture but susurrate is not a small shawl. It uses close to 1620 yards of Sock that Rock Lightweight. And that my friends is a lot of stitches to put together to match a vision. I loved being a part of this process with her, hearing her ideas, thoughts and the challenges. Watching her find what worked and what did not and then how to implement it all. I know from my own creative process that matching your vision to reality is not always an simple or easy process. It takes perseverance, a good deal of patience and often thinking outside of the box. I know for me I will not let go until I know I have achieved exactly what I had in mind. Often (at least for me) that takes going the extra stitch with a fair amount of ripping back and maybe even walking away to gain some perspective. It often means we have to challenge ourselves to step outside of our comfort zone and knowledge base. Take a look at this design and imagine writing the pattern for this.
Based on everything Cara shared with me about her vision and inspiration ( her dear grandmother) I feel like she knocked this out of the park! I am so very proud and excited for my friend.
I was stunned speechless when I saw that first picture of the finished piece. I knew she would create something wonderful. I did not doubt it for one second. That said the reality of it is breathtakingly magnificent.
Cara, thank you for letting me be a small part of your process. I am thrilled I got to witness all of this creative goodness from the beginning! I can’t wait to see all of the color variations of Susurrate we all knit up!
Enchanted Forest and Empyreal are the colors shown here
We are doing a KAL!! Of course with such and epic knit wonder the needs to be a knit-a-long! Check out Cara’s rav page for the details. The KAL starts on July 19th . We wanted plenty of time for us to get your yarn to you.
We are running a 15% discount until the KAL starts. The coupon code is: susurrate19
We recommend you order your yarn asap!!
You need a fair amount of contrast between the two colors you choose.
Also please read what Cara writes about yarn usage. Cara used 4 skeins of Socks that Rock Lightweight but did not have a lot left (hardly any) and had already done the swatching so this does not leave a lot of room for swatching so… please keep that in mind.As always I am available for color help selection.
Here are a few. I am going to pick a speckled or multicolorway and then list a few shaded solids that go with, that give what I think is a good amount of contrast to highlight Cara’s tree pattern.
Chintz and Giggles: Aquarius * Cariblue * Bluebird of Happiness * Coral * Ophelia * Lover’s Leap * Pistachio * Everyday Grey * Rosebud * Lean Mean Aubergine * Maroon 5 * There are a whole ot of shaded solids that will work with this on it really is what floats your boat and has enough contrast!
Oola Pikka : KMBFLA * Bladerunner * Bleck * Ophelia * Smoke on the Water * Pistachio * Copperline * Oscar’s Grouchy Green * Spruced
Plumpy Sun Angle: Aquarius * Blue Bird of Happiness * Coral Queen * Harold Purple Crayon * Lean Mean Aubergine * Boysenberry * Green Wing * Electric Blue * Chillaxin * Motley Hue * Marron 5 * Forget Me Not Blue * Sun Salutations
Phaedra: Coral Queen * Robin’s Egg Blue * Shoqua * Maroon 5 * Moldy Peaches
Okay more to come…
I need to post this.
We are dyeing and shipping as fast as we can!! Our new dyer shows up at the end of the week !!! Yay!! I can’t tell you how excited we are.
I am so grateful to Kalia, Sarah and Crystal for being a true team!
