Rafu-Sen is a top down, fingering weight, square shaped 3 colour shawl with lace edging, that sits securely on your shoulders. Knit with fingering weight yarn, this shawl is perfect for cooler summer evenings and fall days, and is long enough to cover your arms down to your elbows.

The shawl is made with 3 different colours of fingering weight yarn.
Colour A - medium shade, approx 380 yards
Colour B - darkest shade, approx 430 yards
Colour C - lightest shade , approx 360 yards

There is a Knit Along set up for this shawl here: http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/crescent-moon-collective/2... The official start date of the Rafu-Sen Shawl KAL is July 14, 2014, but you may join in anytime. Since this is summer, and a wonderful summer at that, we will have a nice long KAL. The ending date is September 5, 2014

There will be prizes, of course!

I named this shawl after Rafu-Sen, the Japanese Goddess of Plum Blossoms.

The following is quoted from: http://goddesses-and-gods.blogspot.ca/2009/09/rafu-sen-sh…

“RAFU-SEN” IS A SHINTO GODDESS AND IMMORTAL BEING WHO LIVES HIGH ON A SACRED MOUNTAIN OF “LOFU” IN JAPAN AND IS SAID TO BE THE SPIRIT OF THE PLUM TREE; HER NAME MEANS BUOYANT SUBTLETY, SHE REPRESENTS THE CYCLICAL RENEWAL OF SPRING AND IS USUALLY DEPICTED AS A BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAIDEN. SHE WANDERS ” THROUGH FRAGRANT GROVES OF BLOSSOMING PLUM TREES AT NIGHT, ESPECIALLY IN THE MOONLIGHT.

ACCORDING TO AN OLD JAPANESE LEGEND, A YOUNG MAN BECAME VERY COLD WHILE WALKING “MOUNT LOFU. ” HE STOPPED AT A WINE SHOP TO WARM HIMSELF, AND IN THERE, HE MET A LOVELY YOUNG WOMAN IN A WHITE GOWN WITH WHOM HE DRANK SEVERAL CUPS OF PLUM WINE. EVENTUALLY, HE PASSED OUT, AND WHEN HE WAS AWAKENED BY A COLD DAWN WIND, HE FOUND HIMSELF LYING UNDER A PLUM TREE. HE KNEW THEN THAT IT WAS THE GODDESS HERSELF WHO HAD SAVED HIS LIFE.

“RAFU-SEN” STANDS FOR THE PLUM BLOSSOM, SYMBOL OF SPRING AND BRAVERY, FOR THE PLUM TREE BLOOMS WHILE THE SNOW IS STILL ON THE GROUND.

Errata: Row 5 is listed in the first released pattern twice. Only knit it once. The duplication has been removed as of July 14, 2014