Last October I got married, and before I even had my dress, I knew that I wanted to make some sort of shawl for the occasion. I thought it would be an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the capabilities of the delicate-looking BFL & silk laceweight yarn, Saluki, as well as use one of my favorite colorways, Barking Up The Right Tree. After searching through hundreds and hundreds of patterns, I opted for Cloud Illusions, by Boo Knits. I have made many patterns from Boo Knits, who is known for versatile lace patterns that can be easily customized to the desires of the knitter or the limits of the yarn.

Because Boo Knits’ patterns can have a lot of different options, I looked through all of the projects made with the pattern on Ravelry, and see if there are any variations I liked more than others. For Cloud Illusions, there are options for small and large versions of either a garter stitch body or a stockinette stitch body (referred to as stocking stitch in the pattern), and then the lace or extended lace section, as well as beading options. I chose to go with the stocking stitch body and the normal lace section, to keep the shawl smaller, and added my own beading option in the lace section rather than just the border.

The method of casting on is typical for many shawls, in that it starts with 9 rows of 2 stitches, and picks up stitches around the knit area. The shawl continues on easily with either the garter or stocking stitch option. When the appropriate amount of stitches have been made for the size desired, it goes on to the lace section in addition to a change to a larger needle size. As with the rest of her patterns, Boo Knits includes written out and charted lace, for those with preferences. The lace border, which also is written out and charted, includes instructions for adding beads if desired. Finally, a picot bind off is used to create a delicate ending to the lace sections.