Southwestern Shawl

I had been thinking about this shawl since October 27th. That was the day that I was reading the forums on Ravelry and saw that Tony Hillerman had died. If you love mysteries and if you love mysteries that deal with the Southwestern United States and the Native Americans that live there then you know who Tony Hillerman was. Was. The fact that I have to write was saddens me. I have read almost all of the books he has written. His writing is always so vivid that you feel you are there with the characters. If you take a map, you can actually find the cities, reservations and landscapes that he makes come alive with his writing. About five years ago I started reading his books. Also at that time I had a fellow knitter at a local yarn shop ask me for help on a pattern she was having trouble with. She said it was a relatively simple pattern but as we all know those can be the ones that you just don't read exactly and you have to start over twelve times because you are so confident in your knitting and "this is a really simple pattern." The name of the pattern was Knitted Winter Shawl. Apparently it came from Godey's Ladies Book, November 1864. My friend had found the pattern on the internet. It is a very basic triangle shawl knit in worsted weight yarn and completely knit in garter stitch. What the problem was with it is lost to my memory but the shawl is pictured here. I used Brown Sheep Yarn in worsted weight. I am better now than I was back then in writing down every bit of info for a project. I do not know the color names off the labels but decided to make the shawl look Southwestern. I love turquoise so I built the other colors around that including, rust, dark orange, black, and white. I was pleased with the result of the pattern and I remember I had no trouble with it. On the day I read about Tony Hillerman's death I thought of this shawl. What I thought was that I was remembering that I had given away that shawl. I go through cleaning jags and you just sometimes let go of things that later you ask youself why you did that. So I was sad. Sad that Tony Hillerman had died, sad that I would no longer be "riding" with Leaphorn and Chee to solve new mysteries, and sad that the Southwestern Shawl was gone. Tuesday of this week I was cleaning out closets. I keep thinking that we are going to finally at some point get cool enough weather that I am going to be able to wear hats, gloves and sweaters. Even though I wash them before I put them away, I wash them again when they come out of storage so they smell fresh before that first time they are used. I pulled out the storage tub and got out the mittens, the hats, and then a sack that was not see through. Weird. I always try to use clear plastic so I can see "what's in there." I opened the sack and caught my breath. Oh, My, Gosh!! It was the Southwestern Shawl. I could not believe it. I had not given it away (to a person more needy than I ). I pulled it out of the sack. I held it close. It is wool but it is the softest wool I have ever felt. I held it up. I knew I loved this shawl but I had forgotten how much. I love the colors, the softness, the simplicity of the pattern. I decided to take a picture. I thought I would put it over the back of the couch. When I did I realized how big it really is. It goes from end to end on the couch. The pictures just do not do it justice. So I am a happy knitter again. I have decided that the first nice cold day we have I am going to wrap this shawl around me, sit down in my favorite chair with a cup of coffee and I am going to read the next Tony Hillerman book on my list. Thanks Mr. Hillerman for all the great reading adventures. I will think of you everytime I wear this shawl.