My Mystery Stole/Shawl is half done. My only fear is that I might have knitted looser in the second half of this -- and I sure hope that it won't affect the final blocked stole. The edging in particular seems to be looser than the rest of the piece. I'll have to hope that a thorough wetting and proper blocking will make all well.


The official name is "Scheherazade". Here's the information from the pattern's author (Melanie):

"Scheherazade was the name of the Queen who was the storyteller of 1001 Arabian Nights. The Sultan was in the habit of killing his brides after their wedding night and marrying again the next day. When he married Scheherazade, he'd already killed 3000 women. She kept herself alive by telling part of a story, then finishing the story the next night, when she would begin another story. After 1001 nights (and 3 sons) he realized he had fallen in love with her. Aladdin and Ali Baba are two of the more popular characters from her most well known tales.

I chose the name because I felt that Scheherazade was an interesting character. She was brave enough to volunteer to marry the Sultan in the first place, but had the presence of mind to tell a story well enough to capture his imagination, thereby keeping herself alive in the process. Not many of us could spin a tale that could intrigue and captivate the way hers did, knowing that failure would result in our execution. A woman of both great creativity and a very strong backbone, Scheherazade is herself a very interesting character.

In designing the stole, I borrowed traditional motifs from Arabian ornament - several of you have commented on similarities to Oriental carpets. The swirling lines, branching and curling, represent the storyteller, following the thread of a story as it grows and develops. Other motifs... represent the love that grows between Scheherazade and the Sultan.

For more information about Scheherazade, see the following link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheherazade "