More and larger photos are available at the bottom of this page.

Each Mimi Kit contains:

Woolie Silk 3-ply: 65% wool, 35% silk; 230m/100g - 4 skeins (2 MC; 2 CC) - enough yarn to complete either the shawlette (pictured) or a full size shawl large enough to serve as a warm jacket.

Finished Size: Width across Upper Border: 135 cm./54 in. (159 cm./63.5 in.); Depth at Center: 44 cm./17.5 in. (55 cm./22 in.)

Ilga Leja's complete 9-page pattern pdf for Mimi, including both line-by-line and charted instructions and full color photos. Instructions are for both the shawlette and full size shawl.

Suggested needle size and gauge: US7/4.5mm and US8/5mm needles

Gauge: 15st and 30 rows over 4in in garter stitch

Need needles? We have them here.

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We believe Ilga has created a work of beauty worthy of Puccini's masterpiece. What a glorious way to stay warm!

On Christmas Eve, Mimi, the gentle embroiderer in La Bohème, meets and falls in love with Rodolfo, a poor Parisian poet. It is winter and she is already ill. As lovely as she is, she will not survive the year.

Her shawl, though, will keep her warm and there is barely a scene in the opera in which she is not wearing it.

The Mimi shawl in worked in several sections, each with its own features. It ends with a lacy knitted-on edging for the lower border. It is shown here in two contrasting colours, a handpainted colour for the main section and a subtle handpaint for the borders.

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