Dancing Shoes

Shoes. What woman doesn’t love shoes? Well, there are some, but for most of us the love affair started at some point in our teens (if not younger), and rapidly became a lifelong passion. Mine was recently renewed by, of all things, a hank of yarn—a beautiful hank of lovely red yarn, whose color name is 1 Red Shoe. Later, I was delighted when I found a frivolous font that is nothing but a collection of women’s shoes. All these lovely shoes made me want to go dancing, but not dancing as its mostly done today, rather dancing like in the old movies. I want to dance a romantic tango with my husband while he holds a perfect red rose in his teeth, or be swept away in a glorious waltz—either way I want to be wearing a stunning dress, and drop dead fabulous red shoes like the ones that Kathleen Turner wears in V.I. Warshawski.

This crescent-shaped scarf would be just the thing to have draped across my shoulders while being propelled magically across the dance floor. It begins with a lovely bit of old-fashioned lace along the bottom edge. Short rows are used to shape it into a crescent, and the top edge is decorated with a tiny applied border that adds just a touch of flounce.

• Yarn: lace weight; 270 [500, 870, 1070] yards; Note on yarn: though yarn used for model is lace weight, it’s on the thicker side, and works up more like a fine fingering weight.
• Model: Anzula Cloud in 1 Red Shoe in second size; 575 yards in 100 grams; 80% superwash merino, 10% cashmere, 10% nylon.
• Gauge: 20 sts to 4 inches (10 cm) in near top of stitch pattern after blocking.
• Needles: US 5 (3.75 mm).
• Hook: US 13 (.85 mm).
• Beads: 225 [275, 350, 400] size 8/0 seed beads; use size 6/0 seed beads with thicker yarns.
• Finished size: length measured along top of lace just under short rows: 43.75 [54.5, 65.5, 76.25] inches.
• Stitch instructions: Charted only.