03.12.2020

Lucia is here! {Our 2020 Christmas Shawl}

Simply Maschenfein Sophia

Although it's not really a tradition yet, you've been asking about it for the last few weeks: Will there be a Christmas shawl again? When will it finally come? Today is the day and we will unpack our Christmas shawl package together.

May I introduce. This is Lucia - our Christmas shawl this year, knitted from Como or Bergamo by LAMANA:

Our Christmas shawl Lucia, here knitted from Como in the colors rose quartz and blackberry. Thanks to Lina, who made the shawl!
Photo: © Ines Grabner /

Maschenfein

And as is the case when finding a name, there was of course a bit of back and forth. Via small detours - the Greek word leukos for "shining" or "white", for example - we finally ended up with Lucia at Maschenfein. The idea came from Silvie and it totally meets our taste. Lucia is celebrated on December 13 - and is a big event, especially in Sweden. Children dress up as gingerbread, gnomes or Lucia, candles are lit everywhere and - although perhaps not this year - choirs parade through the streets into the churches and sing Lucia songs.

YouTube (German) — Especially in Sweden the Luciafest is celebrated.
Video via © YouTube/svt.se

The shawl Lucia is knitted from the right corner to the left, short side. The pattern triangles, which run over the entire cloth surface, are created by a combination of turn-ups, increases and stitches crossed to the right or left. Washed and stretched, the cloth finally unfolds its full size of about 220 cm in length and a depth of about 98 cm. The cloth is also surrounded by a beautiful crochet edge.

Our samplers were knitted from Como and Bergamo by LAMANA. There our big thanks to the "chickens" who knitted here diligently and then sent their shawls to Berlin so we could take great photos.

By the way, you can also use yarn from your stash for Lucia. Just check with the help of a stitch test whether the pattern comes out well. The actual stitch test is knitted stockinette stitch. If you knit with a different yarn, it can happen that your shawl will be bigger or smaller. But by working more or less pattern repeats, you can also influence this.

*Lucia* in silver gray and pine (knitted from Bergamo) from Louisa

In the tutorial, which by the way is already in our new design, you will find all the techniques explained again. For the crossed stitches we have also made a video in which Sandra shows step by step how exactly this works.

In addition to your yarn, you will need the appropriate knitting needles, a crochet hook and a woolen needle. We also recommend suitable accessories for tensioning, because the cloth must dry under tension before you crochet around the edge with chain stitches. Of course you can also find accessories for tensioning knits here. Have a look at this page. For tensioning long sides like the Christmas shawl, we recommend using tensioning wires like this one from KnitPro.

To make the edge even, it is best to steam it. To do this, place a wet cotton cloth on the edges of the fabric and steam them with the iron. By the way: When choosing your contrasting color, keep in mind that the greater the color difference to the main color, the more it will shine through the crocheted edge. Of course, you can also knit everything in one color.

To make the purchase of our Christmas shawl as easy as possible, we have packed you two knitting kits: once with Como and once with Bergamo. There you "only" have to decide for your desired colors. Optionally you can also add one of our new labels to sew on. Since the labels are made of imitation leather, they can be washed without any problems. In a limited edition we also have the printed pattern in stock. But it is only available in the kit and you can order it as an option. Of course, you can also purchaseinstructionsttern as a digital version - either as part of the knitting kit or, as with other maschenfeine productions, separately. For that, please click here.

And now we wish you a lot of fun while browsing, choosing, giving away, knitting on and anticipating Christmas. Show us your works as always in our Facebook group or on Instagram with the hashtags #maschenfeinstrickrunde and #weihnachtstuchlucia. We are looking forward to many pictures - and especially to many Lucias!

Sophia

About Sophia

I'm Sophia, live in Hannover and since October 2020 I've been taking care of the blog posts, the newsletter, planning the podcast and coming up with actions for social media. By the way, I also happen to be a knitting addict, which benefits me at work.

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