The Odyssey Shawl
Here is my Odyssey Shawl, a free pattern by Joji Locatelli. Hand blended, hand spun and hand knit, all by me … a project full of love! As much as I adore this wrap, I donated this particular shawl to a silent auction to raise money for a family in my community who is looking to grow their family through adoption.
The yarn began as 8 oz of indie dyed fiber (superwash merino, bamboo and nylon) dyed by the talented Llady Llama in her colorway Nebula. To that, I added debouillet wool from Marathon Basin Wool Mill, some Georgia raised alpaca by Southern Sunrise Alpacas and some sand gold angelina from Hippie Chix Fiber Art. To learn more about my process of prepping the fiber to spin, read this post.
Overall, this was a lovely, simple pattern to knit. I did have to learn 2 new-to-me skills for this: the p2togtbl and a picot edge. In case you didn’t know, YouTube is your friend for learning a new skill. This video helped me on the p2togtbl. Very straightforward. The picot edge on the other hand … hooooo boy that was a thing! I’ve crocheted picot edging before and they are no big deal, so I poorly assumed knitting picot edging would be a breeze. I will say, it is not complicated, just tedious. Think of it as going 3 steps forward and 2 steps back. This tutorial helped me survive/conquer the knit picot edging and I’m so glad I didn’t give up. It’s a lovely detail.
The color combinations are endless and it only uses 675 yds total which certainly isn’t too bad for the size of this wrap after blocking. By the way, blocking is a MUST for this project or the details in the pattern just won’t shine through. From starting with a pile of fluff to boxing it up for the silent auction, I probably worked on it for about 6 weeks. Now please know this exists in mom-time … that time that exists between children screaming, being at school and sleeping when you aren’t running around doing other errands and chores to keep life afloat. So spinning and knitting fit in during free and quiet time only. If you’re looking for a wrap for yourself or someone you love, I would absolutely recommend this pattern.
Have you thought about knitting an Odyssey Shawl? What colors have you contemplated? Leave a comment below and let me know!
