FO: Gerda Stole


Yarn: Cecilia Cobweb lace weight yarn (50% cashmere / 50% silk) in raspberry from Posh yarn
Needles: 2.00 mm addi turbo circular
Pattern: Mine! and I’ve called it Gerda.
ETA: Please see the pattern link in the sidebar


Gerda is the name of the little girl in the Snow Queen by Hans Christian Anderson (you can find the story here). You probably know the story, Kay (her best friend) gets tiny shards of a broken mirror, which once belonged to a wicked goblin, in his eyes and his heart. This makes him become cynical and cruel and he starts to be mean to Gerda whom he once loved. Then one day as he is playing on his sledge the Snow Queen comes and carries him away to her palace. Gerda pines for Kay and eventually sets off in search of him, meeting a kind witch, talking ravens, a prince, and a robber girl along the way. Eventually she finds the palace and Kay who is cold and still. The happy ending? Well, if you don’t know it you can read it for yourselves.

I called the stole Gerda because of its wintry design - snowdrops and snowflakes. I also felt that the red colour and the geometric shapes gave it a Scandinavian feel (Hans Christian Anderson was Danish). I can imagine wearing it on a clear dark night for a midnight kiss on New Year’s eve. I’m thinking of knitting another one in white Kid Silk Haze.

I am so pleased with the stole and I can’t wait to give it to my Gran for Christmas! Yet again I saw the blocking miracle, it’s no wonder lace is so addictive when you can take a crumpled ball of unpromising knitting, wash it, pin it out and be left with something light and crisp and beautiful.

Update: I have put a pdf of the Gerda pattern here. Beware that it may not be perfect, but if anyone does knit it please feel free to contact me and ask what on earth I was thinking!

Gerda Stole pattern pdf

31 comments:

artyfartykat said...

I just love your stole! The pattern is beautiful and it looks so warm and rich. Well done on designing such a gorgeous piece, I bet your granma will be delighted.

Anonymous said...

it's stunning - and your own design too!! congratulations, you have a very lucky gran and a new heirloom in your family

HPNY KNITS said...

OMG! its gorgeous! and you wrote the pattern yourself- its awesome!

Craftydramaqueen said...

Your stole is amazing! Well done.I'm sure your gran will love it. Hope you like your new carpets!

Anonymous said...

Good grief - it's just beautiful....the pattern, the colour....everything. You clever, clever thing. Where on earth did you start on designing it? And what a brilliant name.

Mary-Lou said...

Ohhhh! - absolutely gorgeous, almost makes me forget how much I hate working with KSH ... ;)

Lara said...

Wow, that is absolutely beautiful! What a great pattern you have designed - very talented! And I love the roots of the name.

nat said...

Kendra, it's gorgeous! It is such a pretty design and it looks really nice to wear.

Will you be designing more lace in the future? :)

Tusa said...

Beautiful! Great design and I am sure grandma will be very pleased with it. Well done.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful ,really stunning.

Anonymous said...

Hi Kendra,

I was visiting other Rowanette Blog Ring members and happened upon your blog.

Your Gerda Stole is absolutely gorgeous and your Grandma is going to be so pleased.

José said...

Ge-or-gous!! Lovely colour and what a great design. Big pat on the back for a job well done hehe

Artis-Anne said...

That is FAB and I love the colour and the pattern, well done al round Lucky Gran

Sarah said...

Thanks for the nice comments on the stole. I'm definitely going to be designing more lace, as I really enjoyed it.

Anonymous said...

That is so pretty, and the red is just perfect for winter. Your gran is going to love it!!!!

Anonymous said...

Wow that is gorgeous!

Kath said...

What a wonderfull stole! I don't think I'd even know where to start when designing that! How can you bear to part with it? Lucky Grandma!

acrylik said...

Amazing - your Gran is going to treasure the stole - made with love just for her. What a beautiful pattern and sentiment.

Brahdelt said...

Absolutely beautiful! When I read about the Snow Queen fairytale I imagined it in blue, could be nice too.^^

Unknown said...

I'm so impressed with you stole! You are so talented to be able to design it too. I can't think if I'll ever feel that I could actually put together a pattern for lace!

Frankie said...

It's wonderful!

Seahorse said...

Wow! That's just superb! Truly beautiful!

dreamcatcher said...

Absolutely beautiful and I love the story behind it. What a wonderful present for your gran :-)

stacyZ said...

OMG that is so amazing!! I will definitely be knitting this! When ...

Anonymous said...

I love everything about this stole - the colour, the pattern, the size, and the photos - especially the one in which it's in the air and looking so dynamic. Clever you! C U at the ELDS, I hope. Gosia

KarenK said...

What a lovely stole! Thank you so much for sharing your design with other knitters.

Katie said...

Your stole is beautiful!

Lori said...

Very beautiful - thank you so much for sharing the pattern.

Anonymous said...

lovely ! and thanks for the pattern.

Delores said...

This is a beautiful stole and I am hoping to knit it soon. But, I do have a couple of questions regarding chart 1: row 1, in the center, there is a K2tog, YO and then just knit. Is that correct? I think so because if then I did a ssk it would decrease a stitch, but I just want to make sure. Then in row 5 there seems to be an ssk missing after the last YO in the middle. And in row 81 there seems to be a K2tog missing before the first YO in the middle pattern. Is that in order to make the YO's and the decreases equal? I just want to make sure. I am somewhat new to this large of a lace pattern and I don't want to make a mistake and presume something incorrectly.

Thanks for your help!

Sarah said...

Hi Delores

I couldn't find a way of replying to you other than to post a comment here. The decreases are correct on the rows you mentioned. As you guessed it's so that the yarn overs and decreases match and you don't end up with more stitches than you started with. I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any more questions.