From lunch to launch: The evolution of the Azalea Shawl pattern

The Azalea Shawl, knit with Bijou Basin's Yak Laceweight, keeps its mid-century origins a secret. (Photo: Y2Knit)

Knitters have often asked me what the process is behind each of my designs. It’s hard for me to describe, because quite frankly, I’m thinking about designs all the time — well, designs and food. I usually have about 10 projects going on at once, most of which are begun in response to something that’s happening in fashion.

I love to take vintage stitch patterns, tease them apart and reinvent them as something modern and accessible. I look at a piece and can sometimes deconstruct it into four or five projects in my head. I mentioned this to Susan, and was taken aback when she said she is too literal to do that. I thought that was what everyone did!

My Azalea Shawl pattern draws its inspiration from First Book of Modern Lace Knitting by Marianne Kinzel, a vintage book I bought around the holidays. I’m not a “doily” kind of gal — in fact, my personal style is modern, clean and crisp — but I love the stitch patterns. I have the republished 1972 version of the original 1953 edition.

I can easily see beyond the “vintage” aspects of a pattern, even when it’s described as a “Luncheon Set” and comprised of a “centre piece, place doily, plate and glass doily.” I really loved the unique hexagon shape created by the increasing azalea petals.

I focused on the placemat, analyzing its stitch pattern. I quickly realized that if I added more pattern repeats and repetitions, and increased the needle size while working outward, I’d end up with a beautiful shawl with the fluted edges of a real azalea flower.

By February, I was ready to start the knitting. I had been swatching using leftover laceweight yak from bijou basin (left over from a Great Wall of Yarn swatch in January), so I emailed Carl Koop at Bijou Basin Ranch, and he was kind enough to give me lots of yarn!

I imagined that I would knit this myself, but reality quickly intervened and I sent the yarn and pattern to a knitter in early April to make up the sample.

So there you go… from vintage placemat to modern shawl in a matter of months.

The shawl's inspiration was the 1953 Azalea Luncheon Set. (Photo: First Book of Modern Lace Knitting)