One of the most popular exhibitions at the British Museum in the last year was the Beyond El Dorado exhibition of gold artefacts from the ancient civilizations of South America, in conjunction with the Museo del Oro in Bogota, Colombia. The spectacular exhibits showed the craftsmanship and technological achievements of these peoples, as well as giving an insight into their way of life and religious beliefs. This shawl is inspired by a the semi-circular earrings and nose ornaments I saw at the exhibition, which left me in awe not only of their skill but also of their ability to wear an enormous weight of metal! The shawl is worked from the curved neckline outward and alternates zig-zag and circle patterns in imitation of the pierced metalwork of the gold ornaments.

Skill level - improving or intermediate lace knitters.

The shawl can easily be made larger by simply adding extra pattern repeats.