The initial idea for Oren came from childhood memories of walks in and around pine woods. Every summer, my sister and I spent two weeks of the school holidays with our grandmother in Fife. Every so often, in the evening, my gran would announce that we were “going to see the rabbits” and we would take a walk up to and through the nearby pine woods to watch the rabbits playing. We also used to collect pine cones on these walks, for no other reason than we liked to pick them up as we walked. Occasionally, we talked about using them for a craft project but we never seemed to get round to it; we just kept adding to the bag that my gran kept in a cupboard.
At some point, many years later, it occurred to me that a shawl that resembled pine branches with cones hanging from the ends could look quite pretty and Oren was the result.
The body is simple arrowhead lace with an easily memorised 4-row repeat. The border is a little more complicated, incorporating directional increases and decreases for a slightly scalloped effect.
The name Oren comes from the Hebrew word for “pine”. I admit to having no idea how the Hebrew should be pronounced but I say “Aw-rren”.
This shawl was supposed to be a present for my mother-in-law but since it wasn’t ready in time for either her birthday or Christmas, I think I might have to keep it for me!
Oren is now available from Yellow Ginger Designs and Ravelry.
