And now, Medea in lace!

Transcription

1 The Medea Stole 1 Medea falls in love with Jason when he comes to Colchis in his quest for the Golden Fleece. Medea and Jason exchange oaths of fidelity in exchange for which she helps him with the trials devised by her father as a condition for winning the Fleece. Jason's task completed, he takes Medea back with him to Greece, in accordance with their agreement. Medea s brother pursues them. Medea murders her brother and cuts him up, throwing him overboard limb by limb to delay the remaining pursuers who have to stop to recover his body. At Iolcus, Pelias refuses to give up the throne to Jason, even though he now has the Fleece. Medea schemes to cause Pelias' death. She claims she can rejuvenate old people by cutting them up into pieces and boiling them in a magic potion. Medea convinces the daughters of Pelias to do this with their father. However, Medea withholds the magical herbs, and so Pelias dies. Even so, Jason does not gain the throne and Pelias son drives them out of the city. The couple then flees to Corinth, where they live for ten years. There are many variations of what happened in Corinth. However since Euripides, most agree that Jason divorces Medea to marry Creusa, the daughter of the king of Corinth. In revenge, Medea sends her two children with a robe and a crown as wedding gifts to Creusa. The magic ointment that Medea had dipped the gifts in burns Creusa and the king to death. After Medea kills her children as

2 a final act of vengeance towards Jason, she escapes to Athens on a chariot drawn by winged dragons provided by her grandfather, Helius. Medea finds sanctuary in Athens, and she marries Aegeus, the king of Athens. She is banished by him when she nearly succeeds in poisoning his first son Theseus. Medea herself eventually returns to Colchis. Jason is later killed when a piece of his ship, the Argo, falls on top of him. Medea has been a part of Western culture for over 2500 years. We have fragments of very early versions of Medea s myth suggesting that she has been among us since the 8th century BC. Pindar and Euripides both write of her in the 5th century BC. She appears in vase paintings and in murals on the walls at Pompeii. In 1693, Charpentier wrote the first opera of her story; his has been followed by twenty-seven other operas, including twelve in the 20th century alone. Pasolini and Dassin have both made film versions. Lars von Trier made his version for Danish television. Dramatists ranging from Grillparzer to Anouilh to Jeffers have adapted her story for the stage.. Medea s story is one of the bases for Toni Morrision s Beloved. Painters including Feurbach, Delacroix and Sandys have painted her. In the late 20th century, Crossland, with her play Collateral Damage and Wolf, in her novel, Medea, offer feminist views of Medea and her story. For almost 3000 years this ancient character has captivated, enchanted, puzzled and held artists of all kinds in her sway. And now, Medea in lace! This pattern is my interpretation of Medea s story in knitting. The border design, Print of the Wave, is meant to suggest the role of the sea in her story. Then we have the beaded lace ribbing which to me suggests Corinthian columns, important because Medea lived with Jason for ten years in Corinth and is where the play by Euripides takes place. Then we have the major motif of the stole, flickering flame stitch because Medea does cause Creusa and her father to burst into flame and she escapes in a chariot provided by her grandfather, Helios, the god of the sun. And finally the center motif, Crown of Glory, to reflect that it is Medea who survives and goes on to live a long and always interesting life. The pattern calls for beads, lots of beads. They add sparkle and make the stole drape really well. You could leave them out, but it will be a far plainer design without them. I made the stole in blood red. This seems an appropriate color for Medea, whose life is marked by blood. I think it would also work well in black or perhaps a deep purple. Pastels seem not right for such an intense character. 2

3 3 Finished Size: 90 inches long X 30 inches wide (228 cm x 76 cm) Supplies needed: * yards ( meters) of lace-weight yarn. I used 2 strands of 2/28 of cashmere/merino from Colourmart.com. This is approximately the same weight as Jaggerspun Zephyr. * Size mm knitting needles. I used a 3.0 (roughly a US 2.5) but you should use whatever size gives you the lace look you prefer. * Beads : 2500 main color (I used silver-lined red); 350 gold (I used silver lined light gold) * Small crochet hook (stainless steel, size 13 or 14 Gauge: Gauge in lace knitting is a matter of personal preference, depending on how lacey you like it to look. When I first started knitting lace, I used a much larger needle size than I do now, having come to prefer denser stockinette areas. If you are using a yarn you have used before, then you probably have a good idea of what needles size works best for the look you like. If not, I have included a swatch pattern for you to try. If the look you get is too dense, go up a needle size; if too open, go down a size. Shawl is knit in two halves from the outer edge to the center. The two halves are then grafted together at the center. 3

4 4 Legend Knit on right side, purl on wrong side Purl on wrong side Purl on right side, Knit on wrong side P2togtbl purl stitches together in back loops, inserting needle from left behind and into the backs of 2nd and 1st stitches in that order P2tog Purl two stitches together as one stitch SSK -- slip one stitch as if to knit, slip next stitch as if to knit. Insert left-hand needle into front of these 2 stitches and knit together K2tog Knit two stitches together as one stitch Place Bead Place gold bead sl1 k2tog psso Slip 1, knit 2 together, pass slipped stitch over Make 5 stitches out of yarn overs -- k1,p1, k1, p1, k1 making 5 stitches out of the large loop formed by the 3 yo s of the previous row Center stitch No stitch yo yarn over

5 5 Thread 209 beads onto yarn. Cast on 210 stitches using a beaded cast on (backward loop with bead between each cast on stitch). Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Work rows 1-3 in garter stitch Row 4 -- purl 23, place marker,purl to last 26, place marker, purl to end. Begin Charts (Always work bottom to top, beginning at lower right hand corner, reading right to left on odd (right side) rows, left to right on even (wrong side) rows. Row 5 : Work chart A (right hand edging) over first 26 stitches, place marker; work chart B (beaded columns) over center 161 stitches, repeating chart B 7 times, place marker; work chart A (left hand edging) over final 23 stitches. Work in this manner from bottom to top until 50 rows of chart A are completed. Row 51: Work Chart A -right over the first 26 stitches; Chart B over the next 23 stitches; place marker(pm);, knit next 112 stitches increasing 3 stitches evenly within to give 115 stitches in center panel; PM, purl 3, work Chart B over 23 stitches; work Chart A over remaining 23 stitches. Rows 52-54, Work pattern as established for Charts A & B on either side, knit center 115 stitches. Row 55: Work chart A (right hand edging) over first 26 stitches; work chart B (beaded column) over next 23 stitches; work chart C (flickering flame) over 115 stitches, repeating 10 stitches of pattern 11 times; work chart B again over the next 23 stitches; work chart A (left hand edging) over final 23 stitches.

6 Work in this manner for 160 rows: You have now completed 10 full repeats of Chart C. 6 Next Row: Begin Charts D1 and D2, progressing to Charts D3 and D4 when completed. Pattern on left hand charts mirrors that of the right hand charts. When you have completed Charts D3 and D4, break yarn and put the live stitches on a holder. This completes the first half. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ And now, back to the beginning to cast on 210 stitches for the second half. Follow the instructions as for the first half, leaving at least 70 inches when breaking yarn. When both halves are complete, you are ready to graft them together. Grafting: Thread tapestry needle with yarn from the second half. Hold the needles parallel with the tips pointing in the same direction and the wrong (purl) sides facing inwards. 1. Insert the tapestry needle into the first stitch on the front needle as if to knit, while slipping it off the end of the needle. 2. Insert the needle into the next stitch on the front needle as if to purl, but this time, leave it on the needle. Gently pull the yarn through. 3. Insert the needle into the first stitch on the back needle as if to purl, and slip it off the end of the needle. 4. Insert the needle into the next stitch on the back needle as if to knit, and leave it on the needle. Pull the yarn through. Repeat steps 1-4. After you've worked a couple of inches, check your tension. Too tight and you will feel a ridge on the backside of the fabric. Too loose creates unevenness in the fabric s front side. Tighten up or loosen the stitches using the end of the tapestry needle to tug at each loop in turn, working from the beginning of the join towards the last stitches worked if tightening and from the last stitches worked backwards if loosening. It is easier to tighten stitches than to loosen them, so I recommend running the yarn loosely through the stitches during the process of grafting and then adjust the tension on the yarn to match the gauge of the knitting as closely as possible every three or four stitches. It may seem tedious, but will ensure a smooth join.

7 7 It is easy to lose track of where you are in the grafting process. Repeating to yourself "knit, purl -- purl, knit" while grafting helps. Don t worry; if you get off, you will be able to see it with the naked eye when adjusting your tension. Simply undo a stitch at a time, correct and move forward again. Keep repeating steps 1-4, pausing to tighten up the stitches now and then until all the stitches are worked. The last two stitches remaining on the needle will require you to perform step 1 then go directly to step 3. For a thorough tutorial on grafting with pictures see the article found at the following URL: Questions, comments, and corrections may be submitted by to: cfullerphd@gmail.com Pattern intended for private use only. Copying or use of pattern for commercial purposes is forbidden without permission of designer.

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12 Chery L. Fuller. All Rights Reserved 12