Going Postal Wrap: The Story Behind the Design

This beautiful drapey yarn deserved something special. When I had originally looked at the delicious hand-dyed yarns that Blue Mule Fibers creates, I fell in love with the “Lonesome Dove” colourway.  It is an amazing variegated colourway that just makes me smile.

Variegated Yarns

As anyone who has ever worked with variegated yarns can attest, sometimes they can be a bit challenging to work with. Especially if you don’t want to stick with a very simple stitch for the whole project. So, I decided to combine the gorgeous Lonesome Dove with Bonnie Parker. Now, Lonesome Dove wasn’t so Lonesome anymore, not with Bonnie at his side.

A Romance Worthy of  a Harlequin Romance Novel

I think theirs is a perfect relationship. Bonnie calms Lonesome Dove’s somewhat erratic ebullience down a bit and keeps him company. Lonesome invigorates Bonnie (even though she starts off already very bright, perky and pretty) and adds a bit more excitement to her life.

Together, they are the perfect couple. See, here they are entwined together, like any romantic couple!

Everyone knows that romance novels are always accurate. And those novels tell us true love is only ever found after overcoming great obstacles.

In that spirit, I present a proposed cover for the greatest yarn love story ever told.

The title and description of this book seem appropriate for the typical romance novel couple or for this yarn love story.

I ordered the beautiful yarn. Blue Mule Fibers sent it. And then I waited and waited and waited (but THAT is another story that you can read all about in Going Postal Wrap: The story behind the name.

That is the part of the story where great obstacles had to be overcome.

When the yarn finally arrived, I fell in love all over again.

To Feel it is to Love it

Talk about soft and drapey and delicious to work with! This yarn is all that! The merino and silk content in XtraFine is just dreamy. Working with and wearing the yarn a total dream. You will want to drape this deliciousness all over your body, right next to your skin.

I am seriously considering making a nightgown or undershirt with this as my next project. I want to be swathed in this scrumptiousness all night or all day. You HAVE to feel this yarn for yourself!

At that point, I know that this yarn needed something special and the swatching began.

How the Yarn and Design Worked Together

To tackle some of the challenges of working with variegated yarn, you already know that I chose to combine the highly-variegated Lonesome Dove with the bright but solid Bonnie Parker.

The whole shawl is striped to combine the yarns and to break up any potential pooling.

I also wanted to do something special with the stitches to bring out all the very best in these beautiful yarns. So, I came up with two coordinating and subtly different stitch patterns to do that.

Then, to add yet another simple layer of complexity, I  played with how the yarns were worked on each side of the provisional cast on.

I tweaked some of the stitches to make this all work and to get the two sides to play nicely. A modification of the stitches conceals the inevitable half-stitch jog at the provisional cast on. It took a lot of finagling to get it right. But, it was all worth it in the end.

Finally, I added a slightly unusual edge that I think works perfectly to finish off this shawl.

You could say that the Going Postal Wrap is the love child of Lonesome Dove and Bonnie Parker.

Seeing the original skeins, I would never have thought that I could create something that I am very comfortable calling subtle. The vivid colours of both yarns that I fell in love with work so well together and balance each other perfectly.