Rise Up Wrap was first released and published in 2017, in Italian, under the name La Scalinata. For three years it was available exclusively via Unfilodi and the Italian version still remains an Unfilodi exclusive pattern.
As I was saying back in 2017, this is a shawl inspired by the beauty of the Mediterranean summers; a large, airy shawl that transmits the happiness of living near the sea and nature of a Mediterranean country, such as Italy (the homeland of UNFILODI) and Greece (my own homeland) among many others. Sunlight is brighter than anywhere else and life rhythms seem to slow down to let us enjoy ourselves. Bursting colors surround us and these colors do mix and match under the bright sunlight in a very natural way.
English-speaking knitters have been asking for the English version of the pattern for some time now and it seemed only right that it gets its own name, as it is published in 2020 under different circumstances for the whole world.
Italy, Spain, France, the UK, the USA, my own homeland, Greece, are going through tragic times and people are confined at home worldwide in an attempt to stop Covid-19 from expanding even further.
Last spring, I found myself numb and incapable of designing at the beginning of the lockdown in Greece, as the bad news from all around the world kept coming in. Feeling unable to do something really important to help, I turned to my knitting for solace and comfort. I needed my knitting to help me rise up and stand on my feet again, because this feels exactly what we have to do to make it through these hard times! I explored my pattern and added instructions to help knitters modify the shawl to taste. I also rewrote and retested it to make sure this is a really enriched version of the pattern!
It worked for me and I do hope it works for you, too! Let us give each other a hand and Rise Up and be able to live and love and stay safe!