The Quendale Beach Shawlette was my entry in the Shetland Textile Museum “At the Beach” competition 2021. It has a slightly curved, assymetric shape to represent my favourite beach in Shetland. The sand is rippled, textured with varying sections of knit and purl stitches. The spume lace pattern is based on Auld Shell, but with insets of colour to reflect the shape of the waves. The sea is also based on Auld Shell, off-set from the spume pattern to suggest the shape and movement of the waves.

This is a complex knit, with lots of different rhythms going on at the same time - for shaping, for lace sections, for colour changes. There are charts, photos and explanations, but you’ll also find a pencil and notebook handy.

I used Jamieson’s Spindrift - two balls of sand, and one of each of white, surf, seabright, yell sound blue, peacock, splash and atlantic. Of course, you can vary the colours to relate to your favourite beach……. And I worked on a 3.5mm circular needle.

The shape makes it a little difficult to know where to measure, but the longest side is about 54” / 137cm long, and the deepest part is about 20” / 50cm deep. (That’s why I’ve called it a shawlette, rather than a shawl - it’s a little one.)

You can find out more about Shetland Textile Museum at www.shetlandtextilemuseum.com - and I’m thrilled to know my original shawlette is being exhibited there (in 2021) and that it was placed first - best in show.

I liked my Quendale Beach Shawlette so much, I knitted another, for myself to keep. And I also designed and made a headband and wristlets to match. I think of it as wearable art, and hope you like it too.