Exiled deep underground in the Mines of Moria, a Balrog (“demon of night”) was awakened by the Dwarves many years ago. At a turning point in The Fellowship of the Ring where it is believed that the first member of the Fellowship falls, the group flees from a winged Balrog named Durin’s Bane over the bridge of Khazad-dûm. Made of fire and shadow with blazing wings, it has a large human shape with a ram’s head and horns and carries a sword and whip made of flame. It is here where Gandalf bellows the iconic line, “You shall not pass!”

“Fly, you fools!” This multicolored shawl is inspired by the Balrog’s fiery wings and the Fellowship’s encounter with it. Begun by casting on for the long straight edge along the top, the shawl is created by joining two semicircles of expanding chevrons with a wedge of garter in the center. Formed by rapid increases in each end section, paired with slower decreases leaning toward the center, the body tapers to a point while the lacy wings unfurl in their full, flame-tipped glory. The pointed edges are pulled out while blocking, pointy and sinister like the wings of a Balrog.