Designed for the 2018 Minnesota Yarn Shop Hop, Across the Waters is a crescent shaped, circular “non-shawl” incorporating two cashmere blend yarns of different weights and using shadow wrap short rows to create a lush garment that can be worn in multiple ways.

Approximate yardage for each weight:
325-420 yards fingering
160-240 yards DK

The theme of the 2018 Minnesota Yarn Shop Hop was Heroes, and below you can read about how a woman named Tilly inspired Cynthia’s design for this pattern:

Inspired by a Young Woman Named Tilly

Tilly grew up in the north of France, where her British documentary film maker parents still operate a tea room and jam farm -- Le Tearoom a St. Remy au Bois. My daughter Anna, our model for this years pattern, met Tilly while working at Le Tearoom. Tilly attended art school in Scotland and, while an activist in several arenas, neither her art nor her activism inspired my design. She inspired me with a single heroic act. She gave haircuts to migrants waiting in refugee camps.

Our larger than life heroes -- those who change the world in seismic shifts, the pillars of history and social justice whose names are easily accessible in our minds and collective consciousness -- are heroic on a grand scale. We honor them with memorials, with parades and holidays and our gratitude for their work and their love spans borders, languages and lifetimes. Our private, personal heroes are often known only to ourselves and we think about them a little differently. It might be a whole life lived, or a single act that takes our breath away. The essence of their heroism lives deep inside of us and calls out to what we know is good in the world.

And so to Tilly, my private hero. In the summer of 2017, camps in northern France were overflowing with refugees waiting to cross the English Channel. Tilly volunteered to help at the camps in a way that puts a lump in my throat each and every time I tell her story. She cut hair for people while they waited - an act of kindness, a gift of dignity in the midst of brokenness while waiting to cross the waters. I hope you will think of Tilly as you enjoy this design.

-Cynthia Cushing

Kits
Kits are available for purchase on our website at the following url: https://www.lakesideyarn.com/product-page/across-the-waters