Wednesday, July 4, 2007

Harry's Shawl--Unleashed!

It took months of begging and pleading, but this morning, Harry finally agreed to let me post about his newest creation, named, with his usual modesty, Harry's Shawl.

He chose dark red Gentle and size 2 needles--the same setup as the Black Widow Spider King. We both adore Gentle and the dark red is just gorgeous.

Yesterday, he rudely dropped a sloppy folder of notes on my foot before scuttling off to dinner. After wading through the file, I can tell you that the pattern for the central square is something of a mess. The basic elements are in place, but the thing is covered with Post-Its, cross-outs, added lines, and what looks suspiciously like wasabi (Japanese horseradish). I cleaned the pattern up a bit:


Harry explains the design thusly.

The design is heavy on hexagons, which symbolize the Sacred Web--home and hearth for all spiders. In the center of the webs, Harry chose to depict pairs of mosquitoes, symbolizing spiritual and physical nourishment.

The webs are separated by rows of alternating motifs. The four little blobs show groups of baby spiders, symbolizing fecundity and the generational hope for the future. The baby spider motifs are offset with little thingies representing karaoke machines. His notes get a bit vague here--he rambles on about how belting out My Way during a glorious full moon enhances his creativity, thus symbolizing creativity, belting, mooning, and so on.

The central Web/Baby Spider/Karaoke Machine area is bordered on each side by diamonds filled with Pachinko balls.* Well, I thought they were diamonds, but Harry just pointed out that the strip actually represents a dragon's tail, with space aliens filling in between the diamond shapes. The border, he explains, honors the late Space Dragon Pachinko Parlor, whose astounding neon light display was the highlight (sorry) of Togane City's night scene for many years. Alas, the business folded and the building now houses an adult book and video store minus the luminary decoration.

The center is framed in a line of pachinko balls, signifying good fortune and adding a sense of coherence to the design. (It's probably the only coherent thing in this entire post.)

For your enjoyment, I now present the bottom Space Dragon Pachinko Parlor border--complete!


Detail:

I am afraid the border design is still at the preliminary stage, but stay tuned for an update at some point.

*Pachinko is a pinball-esque game wildly popular all over Japan. No matter how small the town, there is always a Pachinko parlor. Go here to read all about it.

15 comments:

Dave said...

No reflection on Harry's fecundity, but the karaoke machines are my favourite part. :-)

Dave said...

And the space invaders are my second favouritest part.

Iris G said...

Harry's imaginative descriptions for all these patterns are so hilarious! The motifs do look very harmonious, and I love the color you picked!

Lacefreak said...

Harry's discription of his shawl has that slight edge of "Lace Madness" that only come from smoking too much wasabi.Artistic temperment. Can't live with it, can't live without it! I must say I greatly admire the pattern and the beautiful choice in yarn. Wonderful as usual Harry.

LittleBerry said...

Harry certainly is very gifted when it comes to designing...... he also has good taste in yarns.... I look forward to future posts on his latest creation :)

missalicefaye said...

Best shawl story ever. :)

Janice in GA said...

Karaoke machines and pachinko balls -- /snorts with laughter/

Anonymous said...

Harry is so cool as always. His thought process are so interesting to watch develop. With 8 legs-hands, it will not take him long to knit this shawl. Will be fun to watch his progress.

miyamojo said...

LOL! Wasabi, karaoke, pachinko! I'm so amused! Love the color and pattern! Still laughing...! m:)

Batty said...

That just blows my mind. But the lace looks great!

Colette said...

Too funny! Harry is very talented.

Judith said...

I love the symbology and mythology that Harry uses so well to segue from the intellectual to the material; his design process fascinates me. Though his charting skills may be a tad messy, his knitting skills are impeccable. Can't wait to see more of the shawl!

Laughingrat said...

I know a friend who will love this. Will he be offering the pattern?

Laughingrat said...

O, ha! I think I misunderstood and thought Harry was a human person. ;) After hearing about him scuttling off for dinner, I see this is akin to my saying that the Marx Bros. (the rats, that is) helped me with my spinning. Hee!

Marie said...

Hee! Love the Space Dragon Pachinko border. I'm sure it does the late Parlor great honor. :) Can't wait to see the baby spiders and the mosquitoes portions knitted up!