Not too long ago I came across some beautiful seaweed washed up at our local harbor when out on a sightseeing expedition with a visiting friend. I took a lot of photos as I found the colors and shapes and textures so interesting. Only a few weeks later, what should present itself at my LYS but some perfectly colored yarn in exactly those subtle hues. I bought a skein immediately not knowing what would come of it exactly but “seaweed” was whispering, nay, shouting in my mind and one can but obey such messages from the universe.

So began my Seaweed Knitting Adventure. And despite the very strong inspiration, there were many many false starts and major episodes of frogging before I got it right. I had a lot of ideas/techniques that I thought I could throw in there that initially struck me as seaweedy but just didn’t work when actually added. Adding in additional yarn was also an issue as the LYS went out of business soon thereafter. Thus, this design was over 2 years in the making. Periodically I’d get so frustrated I would have to go off and knit some socks or a sweater or something else that I could easily finish. But the original yarn remained beautiful and the seaweed inspiration still burned bright so eventually I brought this adventure to a close with a not very lacy, rather drapey and very cushy shawl/wrap. The seaweed ended up not translating literally into recognizable motifs but rather showed up in more flowing, textural applications throughout (although a couple of lace patterns did manage to creep in) including the color, of course, and the entire shape of the piece. After a few aborted starts, I based the overall architecture on a half pi plan (as originally written up by Elizabeth Zimmerman), a new type of shawl shape for me that I had not worked with before.

I had yet another unexpected turn upon completion as well. At the end of the this multi-year knitting journey, after all of the knitting, frogging and re-knitting and after a vigorous blocking session and it was finally done, I was caught off guard when my son casually remarked that the colors of the shawl were actually his personal color palette… Well. Sometimes my pieces are knit for a particular recipient from day one and sometimes they find their recipient much later. And sometimes the recipient makes himself known and presents himself to me and the piece. Anyway, I immediately gifted the shawl to him and he draped himself in dramatically for the rest of the winter. A very happy ending to the Adventure indeed.

This shawl is suitable for intermediate knitters. Stitch patterns are given as charts only.

Size after blocking: 80” wide x 30” deep but could be blocked to a true half circle if desired. This is a big shawl with a thick cushy texture throughout. Because of its weight and its texture, it drapes beautifully.

Yarn recommendations: solid, or at most speckled, yarn colors are the best choice for the many textures and lace patterns present in this shawl. Lighter colors for Yarn A and C are preferable while a dark or highly contrasting color works better for Yarn B since it functions as an outline or edge effect. While any fingering yarn would technically work, a single ply yarn is going to contribute the most to the very flexible and soft drape of this garment.

Materials:
Yarn (single ply fingering weight): ca. 450 g total or ca. 1,870 yards (5 skeins).

Yarn A: Lichen and Lace 1 ply eco fingering, color way amber (gold).
100 g , 400 yds (1 skein).

Yarn B: Malabrigo Mechita in MTA195, color way Gothic (black).
70 g, 294 yds (1 skein).

Yarn C: Malabrigo Mechita in MTA680, color way Aureo (dark gold).
280 g, 1,180 yds. (3 skeins of different dye
lots as pictured).

Size 2 (US) circular needle (or size needed to obtain gauge).

Gauge:
32 ST and 42 rows = 4 inches using Sz 2 needles (or size needed) over unblocked stockinette.