Lacey Stole

I am so thrilled. I’ve actually knitted something other than simple scarves, washcloths, or bandages—a feather-and-fan patterned stole in a color that reminds me of the ocean.


© 2008 Dub Scroggin

Pattern: Lacey Stole, designed by Trudy Van Stralen for Louet
Yarn: Louet Euroflax 100% Wet Spun Linen in Aqua
Skeins: 3
Needles: 4.5 mm straight needles and 3.5 mm crochet hook
New Skills Learned: (1) yarn over (YO) stitch; (2) edging in reverse crochet stitch


Louet North America

I was curious as to the pattern’s name (Lacey Stole) and the usage of the word stole as opposed to shawl. I found the following citations at Wikipedia.

Stole


Eastern Christian epitrachelion

The word stole derives via the Latin stola, from the Greek στολη (stolē), "garment", originally "array" or "equipment".

There are many theories as to the "ancestry" of the stole…More popular is the theory that the stole originated from a kind of liturgical napkin called an orarium (cf. orarion) very similar to the sudarium. In fact, in many places the stole is called the orarium. Therefore it is linked to the napkin used by Christ in washing the feet of his disciples, and is a fitting symbol of the yoke of Christ, the yoke of service.

The most likely origin for the stole, however, is to be connected with the scarf of office among Imperial officials in the Roman Empire. As members of the clergy became members of the Roman administration, they were granted certain honors, one specifically being a designator of rank within the imperial (and ecclesiastical) hierarchy. The various configurations of the stole (including the pallium or the omophorion) grew out of this usage. The original intent then was to designate a person as belonging to a particular organization and to denote their rank within their group, a function which the stole continues to perform today. Thus, unlike other liturgical garments which were originally worn by every cleric or layman, the stole was a garment which was specifically restricted to particular classes of people based on occupation.

Shawl

Lithograph plate showing a variety of ways of wearing shawls in early 19th-century France (ca. 1802-1814); redrawn from various early 19th-century sources by Durin for Albert Charles Auguste Racinet's Le Costume Historique (1888)

A shawl (Persian شال, Shāl, from Sanskrit: śāṭī[1]) is a simple item of clothing, loosely worn over the shoulders, upper body and arms, sometimes also over the head. It is usually a rectangular or square piece of cloth, often folded to make a triangle, but can also be triangular in shape to begin with. Other shapes include oblong shawls.

The first shawls, or "shals", were part of traditional Persian costume in Achaemenid Persia, worn by both males and females. Shawls were also part of the traditional male costume in Kashmir, which was probably introduced via assimilation to Persian culture. They were woven in extremely fine woollen twill, some were even said to be so fine as to fit through a ring. They could be in one colour only, woven in different colours (called tilikar), ornately woven or embroidered (called ameli).

Shawls are used in order to keep warm, to complement a costume, and for symbolic reasons. One famous type of shawl is the tallit, worn by Jewish men during prayers and ceremonies.

I think I’ll just call it a shawl.