At last, at last, the pattern for Zelda is out.

As the designer, I’m more than a little biased on the subject, but I really love this one. The texture, the colours, the beads; they all came together so well. It’s also a lot easier than it looks, something I always like in a pattern — Lorraine made her beadless version in just over 2 weeks, and I’m pretty sure she doesn’t spend every waking hour knitting.

Whitney was such a good sport about modeling Zelda, and I think Wallace got some lovely photos.

I particularly like the way the beads in the edges make the silk move and drape so nicely.

It has kind of a 20s, flapperish feel to it, hence the name.

The thing about patterns is that you can’t do them alone, not if you want them to be any good. For Zelda, I owe a huge debt of gratitude to DyeForYarn for the gorgeous 8-ply silk laceweight; to my pattern testers, Heike Madeleine and Lorraine Moody, who made sure the thing worked and gave many excellent suggestions for improving the pattern; and to the layout and tech editing skills (and patience and sense of humour) of Kate Vanover. Wallace Lewis took the rather stunning photos, and the lovelier-than-she-knows Whitney Sides Mitchell came out on a very hot Father’s Day morning to model for me.

The pattern for Zelda Shawl is available on Ravelry and Craftsy, and will be up on Patternfish as soon as it’s approved. In the meantime, here’s a gratuitous texture shot.