This pattern is presently only available with kits sold in our brick & mortar store and online here. All proceeds from the sale of the kit will be donated to Compañeros Inmigrantes de las Montañas en Acción (CIMA). Once the kits have sold I’ll make the pattern available by itself. Kits come in several different color combinations.

I first dreamed up this garment (which I then called the Sanctuary Shawl) back in 2018 while trying to think of a creative response to the oppressive ICE raids ravaging immigrant communities across our nation. Like so many creative endeavors that sometimes lay dormant before finding their feet, this project remained a UFO for some time. When I finally was able to revisit it, “Sanctuary” didn’t seem like the right name. Now in the midst of the ongoing COVID pandemic, where and what is safe? Though refugees and immigrants often seek safe haven, they have to cross borders to do so. They must leave places they loved which may well have become unsafe for them.

Not everyone may think they can relate to the experience of a refugee or an immigrant. Many folks may never have to cross a border in crisis. But we all may have experiences with crossing other kinds of borders: borders between one identity and another; borders between one relationship, place, or institution that has become emotionally or physically toxic for us forcing us to move into a new territory: a space where we can be healthier, safer, be our true selves.

The Border Crossings garment can be a shawl, wrap, or cowl. Directions are included for these options (because we all have different needs of garments) as well as some optional surface decoration using beads and sari silk ribbon. All options are knitted flat with garter “borders” between alternating lace and cabled pattern sections.

The yarns were chosen carefully to represent different parts of the world coming together: Donegal wool from Ireland; Noro Silk Garden Sock from Japan; Mirasol alpaca blend from Peru; glass beads from Ghana; and silk sari ribbon from India. The goal was to have as many continents represented as possible (which was difficult given the limitations of the yarn industry).

The garment includes lace and cabling and multiple textures as a metaphor for the many communities that make the United States a beautiful and unique nation. The pattern includes charts for the lace and cabled sections and written directions for the rest (including optional forms of construction). Also included in your kit is a journal of questions for reflection: about your family history as well as the many kinds of borders we have all crossed. The questions for reflection are for as you knit the lace and cable sections as well as for pausing at each garter “border crossing.”