Thoughts about knitted shawls.

The knitted shawl. Shawls are such an odd thing to me; there are thousands and thousands of patterns for shawls on Ravelry- several of the most popular patterns are for lace shawls. Have you ever seen a non-knitter wearing a lace shawl? Probably not, even if said non-knitter is an old lady. Even old ladies don't really wear lace shawls, but here in the knitting world every lady out there has at least one. Why is this such a thing? Why do we spend so, SO much time knitting these lacey triangles?

I admit that I have a lace shawl. I even made it willingly. This was way back in 2011 (so, ahem, don't judge any imperfections), and I wanted to get better at knitting lace. So, I picked out a pattern on Ravelry (Damask), hand-dyed a skein of sock yarn, and went to town. I enjoyed knitting it, and I really love the color, but. After I finished it, I thought to myself, this isn't my style. I have no idea how to wear this. But since I had already made it, I felt guilty not wearing it, so I wore it precisely once, draped around my neck, fastened with a brooch. I endured a lot of geriatric, you-must-be-a-cat lady, when-is-afternoon-tea jokes at work. Plus, I just felt goofy wearing it. So I put the shawl away, and mostly forgot about it until I was packing the other day.

I thought about trying again. Maybe if I wore it with a dress? A high-waisted skirt? No. It's just not my thing. I cannot, and honestly don't even want to, make it work. I'm sure that many of you out there totally disagree with me, but I am declaring my position. I am anti-lace-shawl. There, I said it. I have no desire to design shawls, don't want to wear them, don't really get it. I think they are pretty, don't get me wrong. They just aren't me. Also, ugh, nupps. One of the more annoying things to knit, amirite?

All that being said- it is pretty, isn't it? I sure love that color.