This super-cuddly shawl is worked top-down and is suitable for any weight yarn (suggested Sport or DK). It is easy to work, with a 10-row repeat containing Filet work, Popcorns, and Clusters, resulting in the scrumptious texture which Crochet excels at.

The model shown is in the Extra Large size (82” x 32”) but directions are provided for smaller sizes as well. There are many options to vary the size and sequence of the stitch patterns. Directions are written as well as charted.

I was inspired by both the Old Forest in “The Lord of the Rings” books, as well as the beautiful yet mysterious forest located behind my house.

The Old Forest Outside Our Walls

At first we thought it a scenic place of beauty: trees reflecting the changing seasons, delightful little forest creatures, charming nature walks. A peaceful, benevolent, welcoming place. And so it is, or appears to be. But we now know it is much more, and have found we are unwelcome trespassers at war with the old forest.

Forest creatures venture out to our clearing, soldiers in the battle against the unwelcome invaders: Rabbits dig holes for the unwary to trip in, squirrels pelt us from above with acorns, and deer plow through our garden like a lawnmower. Woodpeckers rat-a-tat on our house angrily and the “friendly” chipmunks are perhaps spies sent to discover news of our landscaping plans, along with the peanuts.

And even smaller creatures join against us in the battle: Ticks, biting ants, bees, and mosquitoes plague us - some thirsty for blood, others carrying even more lethal dangers. Beware what you touch, for poison ivy, oak, and sumac may lurk behind seemingly innocent ground cover, waiting for the unsuspecting gardener.

Peaceful, swaying trees change their dance during storms, raging in anger at the world beyond the forest’s borders. “Why borders?” they howl in the wind. “We remember when forests reached to the seas. Before man came to cut into us for their own pleasures!” They fling dead branches and fat tree limbs down in fury, trying to reach our roof to drive us away. Entire trees crash toward us as we shelter inside, humbled by the violence raging outside our walls.

The old forest has no cause to love us. How many trees were slaughtered to build our house, some sixty years ago? And Man continues to destroy nearby forest lands for even more building sites. We are guilty too – in defense we prune and “limb up” trees to fight the encroachment of the forest upon our little clearing.

Do we love our forest? Yes, of course we still do. But we are no longer naïve enough to imagine it loves us back. Why should it? So we exist side-by-side, at war with the old forest which we love.