ConEd CoverUp
A Shawl Pattern in 4 Acts by Corrado Lark

The Needs:

• US 3 (3.25mm) 32” circular needle.
• 4 round stitch markers and 2 clip-on stitch markers.
• Yarn content: 90% Merino Wool/ 10% Manufactured Fibers - Nylon / Polyamide.
• Color A: One skein (536/135g) The Fiber Seed Sprout Sock in the “Gulfstream” colorway.
• Color B: One Skein (536yd/135g) of The Fiber Seed Sprout Sock in the “Con Edison” colorway.
• Color C: One Sprout Sock Mini (126yd/34g) by The Fiber Seed in the “Sunspots” colorway.
• Color D: One Sprout Sock Mini (126yd/34g) by The Fiber Seed in the “Kumquat”
• Gauge: 23 stitches and 21 rows per 4” garter stitch, blocked. (Don’t worry much about this, if you’re a little looser it will worn out just fine.)
• Final Dimensions: A 75” long and 12” wide arrow.

Stitches/Techniques Used:

Knits, purls, increases, decreases, eyelets, and stripes. A Beginner/Advanced Beginner chevron, arrow-shaped shawl.

The Backstory:

On December 27th, 2018 in Astoria, NY there was an explosion at a Con Edison plant only a few blocks from my apartment. For what felt like at least 10 minutes the sky turned a bright, surreal teal-ish blue. The street lamps flickered, and an underlying hum warped through the air. It felt like an alien invasion out of the movies.

The night signifies a move forward in my life. That day I had spent meditating, looking for answers. Regardless of the truth, on some level that night will always mark a spiritual awakening for me. Maybe it was aliens, maybe it was just the universe coming into some sort of alignment, but that night will always signify a “ConEd CoverUp”.

Later on, I posted to my Instagram stories and asked to see if a yarn dyer would be inspired to dye up a colorway based on these brilliant colors. Of course my friend Lindsay at The Fiber Seed jumped on it, and she came up with the “Con Edison” colorway. Thanks Lindsay for such gorgeous work!

This shawl represents strength. At one point last summer while reporting all of the physical and mental trauma I had gone through on a theatre tour the year before, it was pointed out by a union representative how strong I actually was. I didn’t see it. All I knew at the time was I just had to get through. I was targeted, but I stood up. I had to do what I could to survive, and at many points all I had was knitting as a defense mechanism.

It wasn’t until months after that union meeting during the Astoria Con Edison Explosion that I could really grasp that I had survived, I had made it through, and I was finally moving forward in my life. While the trauma is something that I still work on every day of my life, I know I’m on the right path having come forward.