For the Love of Drachenfels Shawls

Now and then I come across a pattern that for whatever reason I fall in love with it. For me, Drachenfels is one of those patterns.

“Here be dragons, or so says the legend – though when you climb Drachenfels today you’ll find only the ruins of an ancient stronghold.

Stave off the chill wind with this cosy shawl, which pays homage to the dragon of lore with a slipped garter colorwork pattern that hints of scales.

It’s worked in garter stitch from tip to edge, then neatly finished with I-cord bind-off.” Melanie Berg, Designer

Of course, the designer had me planning my first project once dragons were mentioned in the name of this shawl pattern. I do love all things dragon-related and I loved everything about the Drachenfels Shawl the moment I saw it on Ravelry in 2014…

Drachenfels Shawl No 1

My first Drachenfels Shawl was finished in 2015 and we photographed it when we were on holiday in Connemara in 2015. I used 3 skeins of hand-dyed 4ply Blue Faced Leicester.

With this version of the shawl, I used Teal for Colour A, Spring Green for Colour B and Magenta Red for Colour C.

I wasn’t completely happy about my colour choices in this shawl which I discussed in more detail in my post “Drachenfels Shawl No. 1“.

I gave this shawl to my sister and it was destroyed along with all her other belongings in a house fire a couple of years ago.

Drachenfels Shawl No 2

My second Drachenfels shawl was cast on in November 2018 and finished in December 2018.

I knit this Drachenfels for my mum for Christmas that year. It was my first knitting project after months of physiotherapy after I fractured two fingers on my right hand.

The tension is great on this shawl as much of it was knit using the Norwegian knit stitch. I had to find a way of knitting that didn’t involve my normal English throwing method.

I loved knitting with the Regia Premium Merino Yak sock yarn. This way is both soft and drapes beautifully.

I used Teal Mix 7514 for Colour A, Flint Mix 7511 for Colour B and Raspberry Mix 7507 for Colour C. I love the deep dusky shades used in this shawl.

Drachenfels Shawl No. 3

The third version of Drachenfels was made as a replacement for Drachenfels Shawl No. 1 for my sister. She helped choose the colours when she was visiting.

We chose Malabrigo Sock Rayon Vert 854 for Colour A, Hand-dyed Merino Silk Cranberry Blush for Colour B and Malabrigo Sock  Eggplant 811 for Colour C.

This shawl was only finished a couple of weeks ago in August 21 and took me over 28 months to complete! I think that although I love knitting Drachenfels shawls, as it was the third version of the shawl that I have made I found myself often being sidetracked by other patterns that appealed to me. So this shawl became a long term work in progress.

Will There Be A Drachenfels Shawl No. 4?

I never say never! I may well knit a 4th version of the Drachenfels. What I love about the Drachenfels Shawl is how elegant the design is and how different each of the shawls looks depending on the colour choices…

I would love to have a version of this shawl for myself although I’m not sure when I’ll cast on it won’t be until I come across the perfect yarn combination for a version of myself!

If I do cast on a fourth version it would be the only pattern I would ever have made more than three times.