Monika is my best friend in the whole world - BFITWW as we say. I have known her longer than anyone outside of my family. She is fairy godmother to my daughter and I honestly don’t know where I would be without her. We’ve been best friends since we were 15 and haven’t lived in the same place since we were 16. We have spent years driving or flying to visit each other all over the US. When I moved to Europe a few years ago, we finally got a chance to travel and adventure together and really put our friendship to the test. This shawl commemorates our maiden voyage.

The shawl is made up of 5 patterns. The first pattern begins in our adopted home in the Netherlands with our favorite bar food - bitterballen (basically deep fried gravy balls). The second pattern of rain-soaked leaves is for Munich where we got stuck in the Englischer Garten in a crazy rainstorm. We had to seek shelter in the Kiwana’s Club of all places, and eat spetzle and drink beer until the rain subsided - I know, tough life, right?. The third pattern of candlelight represents our time in Vienna. We stayed with a really wonderful couple who took us to a restaurant they had been going to since they were children. The place was lit only by these giant dripping candles that had built up for decades and the food and company were too amazing to forget. The fourth pattern is the beaded edging for our time in Athens where those beautiful little glass beads are everywhere to ward off the evil eye. Finally, the Irish moss border - which look like the lovely bubbles crawling up the sides of a pint - is for our brief time in Dublin where we pretended to swim in a giant pint of Guinness at the Storehouse. Although you may not have travelled with us, you can still enjoy this beautiful European inspired adventure shawl! And now available, the Reyes de España Shawl, which details our second trip through southern Spain!

You will need 2 skeins of the listed lace weight yarn (about 880 yds), size #7 (4.5mm) needles preferably 29”+ circulars to help support the weight, size 6 glade seed beads in clear, a 12/1.00mm crochet hook to attach the beads, and rust proof pins for blocking.