Subscriber Exclusive
Golden Flower Shawl to Knit
This circular shawl with a chrysanthemum as the main motif, from the September/October 2017 issue, is Katrina's tribute to this brilliant film.
I am a big fan of Chinese film, and Curse of the Golden Flower, written and directed by Zhang Yimou and released in 2006, is a favorite. It’s the story of a royal family in turmoil, fighting over the throne. The emperor wishes for his eldest son, the crown prince, from his first marriage to succeed him. The empress wants her eldest, the second son, to inherit the throne. The empress has been having an affair with the crown prince, which her younger son has knowledge of and hopes to exploit in his own attempt to gain the title. In preparation for an attempt at a military coup by her eldest son during the Chrysanthemum Festival, the Empress sews a chrysanthemum for each of her troops to wear so that they recognize each other. This circular shawl with a chrysanthemum as the main motif is my tribute to this brilliant film and to the lovely chrysanthemum.
Detail of Katrina King’s Golden Flower Shawl, highlighting the chrysanthemum motif.
I am a big fan of Chinese film, and Curse of the Golden Flower, written and directed by Zhang Yimou and released in 2006, is a favorite. It’s the story of a royal family in turmoil, fighting over the throne. The emperor wishes for his eldest son, the crown prince, from his first marriage to succeed him. The empress wants her eldest, the second son, to inherit the throne. The empress has been having an affair with the crown prince, which her younger son has knowledge of and hopes to exploit in his own attempt to gain the title. In preparation for an attempt at a military coup by her eldest son during the Chrysanthemum Festival, the Empress sews a chrysanthemum for each of her troops to wear so that they recognize each other. This circular shawl with a chrysanthemum as the main motif is my tribute to this brilliant film and to the lovely chrysanthemum.
Detail of Katrina King’s Golden Flower Shawl, highlighting the chrysanthemum motif.
[PAYWALL]
Materials
Yarn Treenway Silks Kiku (100% silk; 1100 yd [1006 m]/3½ oz [100 g]): #303 beehive gold, 1 skein.
Needles Size 2 (2.75 mm): 40" circular (cir). Adjust needle size if necessary to obtain the correct gauge.
Notions Markers (m); tapestry needle.
Finished Size 38" wide and 18" tall.
Gauge 20 sts and 30 rows = 4" in body mesh patt; 1 edging rep = 4¼" wide.
Notes
- This shawl is worked back and forth from the top down.
- A circular needle is used to accommodate the large number of stitches.
- See pieceworkmagazine.com for Abbreviations and Techniques.
Download the charts here.
Shawl
Garter tab: Using the long-tail method and holding 2 needles tog, CO 3 sts. Remove one needle. Next row Sl 1 pwise wyf, k2. Rep last row 8 more times. Next row (RS) Sl 1 pwise wyf, k2, place marker (pm), working along selvedge edge, [pick up and knit 1 st in next garter ridge, pm] 5 times, pick up and knit 1 st in each CO st—11 sts total. Next row (WS) Sl 1 pwise wyf, k2, p5, k3. Work Rows 1–114 of Body chart—581 sts. Work Rows 1–18 of Edging chart. BO all sts using the picot method as foll: Using the knitted method, * CO 2 sts, BO 4 sts, working tbl; rep from * to end.
Finishing
Weave in ends. Block to measurements.
In addition to fiber arts, Katrina King is passionate about cake decorating. When not tangled in laceweight yarn or covered in sugar, she can be found teaching at her local yarn shops and conveying her daughters to various activities in Fort Collins, Colorado. Visit threadeddreamstudio.com to see more of her creations.
This project was published in the September/October 2017 issue of PieceWork.
