This pattern is the latest instalment of my annual TTC KAL Surprise pattern kits at Passionknit. The TTC Knitalong is an organized yarn crawl that takes over Toronto transit (TTC) from various points in the city, and travels from yarn shop to yarn shop knitting all the way. You can learn more about it from their blog. For the past several years we have hosted two of these groups at Passionknit, and we offer up some goodies and a discount to our guests. Additionally, I design one pattern every year that gets dramatically unveiled for each group. I try to make the pattern something that is good for portable knitting, i.e. something that would be easy to knit on the subway, streetcar, or bus.
Two years ago we started this tradition with the TTC Mitts:
And last year we continued it with the TTC Token Socks:
This year I did the TTC Subway Shawl:
This shawl is called the TTC Subway Shawl in honour of the TTC KAL, and also with the thought that it is perfect for knitting on the subway. The pattern is not super complicated, and while it has four colours in it, you are never using more than two at any given time, so you would only need to have two balls of yarn with you.
Despite its underground namesake, this shawl definitely belongs in the sun. Part of me thinks Sunshine Shawl would be a more apt name because I can't look at these colours without thinking of a gorgeous summer day. My husband took these photos for me out on Toronto Island, which is a lovely place to spend a nice summer afternoon. It was a beautiful day, and none of these images gives the slightest hint of below ground transit.
However, as someone who has spent several years commuting via subway, I think the perfect thing to make your commute less dreary is to bring a bit of colour with you.
Kits for this shawl are available at Passionknit in Toronto. If you are not a local, give us a call and we would be happy to ship you one!
