Dracula – the horror, the shock, the revulsion, the gore, and the underlying romance of it all… Man/Woman, Day/Night, Good/Evil, Death/Life, Love/Hate – these enduring themes of contradiction and opposition continue to draw new readers into the realm of vampires. You imagine yourself there in the darkened world where he swoops in and embraces you in his large diaphanous wings making you feel safe and secure in a fleeting moment of ecstasy.

This shawl retells the original story in yarn. The lace pattern starts with the Mina’s heart section, which echoes the romantic undercurrent of the entire novel. The eerie gothic castle setting is reflected in the shapes of flying buttresses which evolve into fluttering bats. The final edge sections are designed to look like actual batwings, so that the wings will embrace you completely when you wrap the shawl around you.

The story is also reflected in the yarn itself (810 yards used for the sample). The overall color is the hue of a scab: a dark brownish-red punctuated with a few specks of dark blood red. Blood drips along the length of the shawl in form of bright red beads (1500 8/0 3.1mm glass seed beads), starting with a few droplets at the center of the shawl and ending with veritable blood pools along the bottom edges.

I have always been fascinated by a good vampire story and several exceptional ones come to mind immediately. Bram Stoker’s Dracula is one of them. Even though I have read this book many times, it never fails to deliver the thrill and suspense of an authentic Victorian gothic tale. So it should come as no surprise that I was more than thrilled to be able to work on this design for Woolgirl’s Victorian Writers Knitting Club. To help bring the timeless story to life, I took the photos at an early 12th century castle and at a medieval cemetery. I really loved spending time with my old friend and, if you decide to join me, I hope you’ll enjoy your journey into the Count’s fascinating world: “Welcome to my house! Enter freely and of your own will!”

The Dracula pattern is now available as Ravelry download.

This pattern was originally published as part of the Victorian Writers Knitting Club from Woolgirl in October 2011.

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