De Anima or On the Soul - the treatise of Aristotle, in which the concept of Tabula Rasa in Western philosophy originated.
Tabula Rasa refers to the idea that we are born without built-in content and that all we know comes from experience and perception. It is a truly fascinating concept, and I very often ponder it when I teach knit and crochet. We acquire skills through practice. Some of us are taught those skills at a young age, but do we possess them already in our unconscious mind? The same can be said for talent… do we acquire it or are we simply born with it?
De Anima is a wide crochet triangular shawl which starts at the corner. It uses two gorgeous 4ply yarn, one smooth and drapey and the other hairy and angelic, it is created in sections of the two yarns. The plain sections combine rows of dc and htr (US tr and htr) which are interrupted by section of mohair lace.
Please note that pattern is written using UK terminology with US conversion given in abbreviation list.
Size
The completed blocked shawl measures approximately 164 cm (64½ in) at the widest point and 72 cm (28 in) deep.
Materials
2 skeins of Silky Singles by Martin’s Lab (70% superwash merino, 30% silk; 400m/437y per 100g). Shown in colorway Seafoam - Colour A.
1 skein of Silky Mohair by Martin’s Lab (72% mohair, 28% silk; 420m/459y per 50g). Shown in colorway Thicket - Colour B.
I have used above yarn, but any 4ply weight yarn will be fine to use for this shawl, you will need approximately 800 m/874 yrd of colour A and 420 m/459 yrd of colour B taking into account that different fibres result in different drape and effect of finished shawl.
3.5 mm/ US #4/E crochet hook.
Tension
After blocking: 25 sts and 13 rows to 10 x 10 cm (4 x 4 in) measured over pattern of plain panel (tr and htr) using 3.50 mm (US E/4) crochet hook
The gauge isn’t crucial for this shawl, but differences may affect not only the finished size and yardage, but also the drape and pattern definition.
