7th December 2019

‘Shawl’s all’…

philippanestie Charity Shop, Crafts, Trending 1970's, crochet, vintage

As I passed the basket full of wools in one of my Charity Shop runs as usual…My eyes were immediately drawn to a knitting pattern ‘Floral Rhapsody’ (and they were not joking…). The images conveyed a very romantic setting for two crocheted shawls and a scarf. Having recently taken up crochet, I decided to take a closer look at the world of shawls. I don’t know if they are ‘trending’ right now (and if not they should be…) I therefore decided diving into my archives was the only way to go, as the initial Internet search didn’t reveal any ‘exciting news’ in the world of shawls unfortunately…Oh well it doesn’t matter as I have more than enough vintage material to compensate.

First up is the white lacy effect shawl from Golden Hands Crochet Special 1975, described as a ‘cobwebby’ shawl in hairpin crochet and of course well beyond my craft ability at present, though now on learning crochet and the skill involved I now appreciate the craft and the work gone into these items much more. The cover of Stitch Craft from November 1972 features two similar shawls, except in bold red and pink, also I like the cameo brooch holding the red shawl at the neck – a v.nice touch, though again way beyond my feeble crochet ability at present…Next another Stitch Craft shawl from June 1974, the diagonal striped shawl with the pattern working beautifully to the shape, no complaints there!

Inside McCall’s Needlework and Crafts Spring/Summer of 1973 I found three shawls, a red mohair shawl worked in the round which ‘folds in half a double layer of fascination’ well I guess I do agree with that and I love the springiness and volume it achieves. The Granny square/blanket shawl I can really relate to this, as in my practice crochet I’ve not yet managed to achieve an even square, though ‘baby steps’ and gives me something to aim for. The pink shawl is for the much more advanced crocheter with its lacy web joining together pink flowers with a raised round in the centre…Oh I can only dream right? The final two shawls both feature what might be described as ‘extreme fringing’ which I love.

The gold is not made by crochet though…but macramé…the mind ‘boggles’…I believe I tried it a very long time ago and found it rather difficult…to say the least…this looks very complicated and I think I would be totally lost…So unfortunately I’ll be giving macramé a miss…(this shawl is from Handicrafts magazine 1972). The fringed flower motif shawl is vintage, featuring from the same McCall’s magazine as above and was discovered at an antiques fair in California. It is stated as Austrian and is described to being made in silk yarn which is no longer available. The intricacy and skill and time spent on this shawl is truly astounding, there are some interpreted instructions stating that due to the rarity of the yarn and with no exact way of knowing how it was made up..instructions have a ‘make do and mend’ approach and a crib sheet was published. Wow…what a journey through the ‘world of shawls’ maybe one day I can attempt one of these…though I think it’ll be quite a while yet…