It's a crochet shawl, made of Nazli Gelin thread, and designed by Kathy Merrick. Of course this means I have to make it, right? It's the perfect recipe for happy stitching. If you'd like to join in the Meadow Shawl crochet-along, head to the forums! I'll be going at a nice leisurely pace of around one motif per day, reveling in the fact that this lightweight cotton thread makes for great warm-weather crocheting; perfect for a few stolen moments on the front porch, sipping iced tea.

One of the greatest things about this shawl is the color play. Kathy adores designing with color, and this shawl is a great way to dive in to playing with all the combinations that the Nazli Gelin thread offers.

I adore the spring cherry-blossom colors of the original shawl, but I often wear darker colors, and the way the wheels and spokes of the motif work invokes a very Steampunk vibe for me. So I've gone for three shades of brown, two greens, a black, and a dark rose color. I think it should be wearable and neutral, but still have an edgy attitude.

We encourage you to play with color as well! We've put together a coloring-book version of the motif placement chart from page 22 of the Spring issue. Print off a few copies, break out your colored pencils and let your inspiration guide you!

Here's my coloring page all filled in! And here's my thread, complete with my wee beginnings of a motif.

Join us in the forums to talk about color, and when you're ready to get started, check out my blog post on working over your ends to secure them...instead of weaving in the approximately 643 ends in this shawl.

Happy stitching!