As Autumn Leaves

 

This is ‘As Autumn Leaves’, my seventh shawl pattern this year and possibly my favourite. You can see more information and purchase the pattern here.

The shawl was inspired by the poem ‘come little leaves’, it is perfect for autumnal evenings as it wraps all the way around your shoulders, both pretty and functional.

You will need approx 320 – 340 yards of worsted weight yarn, 6mm / US10 circular needle and 8 stitch markers. The sample used 148g of Manos del Uruguay Maxima in shade fire.

The pattern includes both written and charted instructions and is suitable for an advanced beginner knitter.

 

 

 

Venation Shawl

It has been a while since my last post, school holidays were busy and we’ve been away on vacation, but now all is back to normal and I have a bit more time again.

I have just published my sixth shawl pattern, yay! and because I’m happy (and somewhat shocked) that I managed to design six shawls, this pattern is available for free.

This shawl comes in two shapes and two designs, either all over lace, or just a lace border. This pattern would be a perfect for anyone attempting lace for the first time, although the lace sections are charted the charts are simple and easy to follow.

You can knit this shawl in any weight of yarn, the pattern includes full details on needle sizes for all weights and a guide on yarn requirements.

My squared crescent, all over lace sample used 426 yards of laceweight yarn and my triangular, lace border sample used 348 yards of bulky yarn.

I hope you like it, and if you do decide to make one of your own I’d love to see a picture.

Six Shawls

Summer in the UK is a random thing, last year it was mostly overcast and damp, but this year, for a change, we have had sunshine! As a family we have been making the most of this, spending as much time as possible enjoying the warm weather and because of this I haven’t done too much knitting recently.

But rummaging through my pile of finished knitting (and it is quite a pile) this morning I realised that I have more finished objects than I had at first thought. Back in January of this year I set myself the challenge of designing and publishing 6 knitted shawl patterns, so far I have published 5 patterns, but what I hadn’t realised was that I have 3 more finished designs and another one on the needles.

So this shawl will be design number 6, it is all finished and the pattern just needs typing up and I need to come up with a name for it. This shawl incorporates a very simple lace pattern but with multiple options, there is two different possible shapes, plus the option for either all over lace or for just a lace border. Plus the pattern will include directions for multiple yarn weights, I have so far knit this shawl in laceweight and chunky/bulky yarn.

I’m hoping to get this pattern released this week, then my Alpinia cardigan pattern will be released in approx two weeks, this is currently being tested and so far so good, no problems with my pattern.

When I set myself the 6 shawl challenge I wasn’t sure if I would succeed, but this challenge has been just what I needed to give myself ‘a kick up the backside’ and to write up the patterns that I love to create. So if you love shawls like me watch this space, I also have my noro shawl coming soon as well as a worsted weight creation perfect for the coming cooler months and I am currently working on a highly textured, two coloured semi-circular design too.

thank you to everyone for the supportive messages I have received over the past seven months.

Heartfelt Shawl

This is Heartfelt, my newest shawl pattern, this shawl was designed purposely to use one of those ‘special’ skeins of yarn, you know the one, that super pretty/expensive yarn you bought and have been saving for something special. This shawl lets you wear your heart on your shoulder and show you yarn just how much you love it.

Heartfelt is knit from end to end so you can make it any length and included within the pattern is details on working out how to calculate how much yarn you will need to save for the decrease section.

You will need as little as 300 yards / 275 metres of 4ply / fingering weight yarn and 4mm/US6 needles. There is also optional beading, if you want to add beads then you will need at least 84 size 6 beads and a small crochet hook with which to add them. The pattern also includes full details on how to add beads to your knitting.

The pattern has both charted and written instructions and is suitable for an advanced beginner, experience of lace knitting may be an advantage.

You can buy this pattern through Ravelry here.

Meandros Shawl

This is Meandros, my fourth shawl from my 6 shawl challenge, and it is now available to download on ravelry.

This semicircular shawl is knit all in one piece from the top down, the meander pattern in this shawl is created using slipped stitches, a simple technique that allows you to work with just one yarn at a time to create a pretty two colour design. The shawl is finished with a simple, but elegant lace edging.

The shawl is knit in artesano 100% alpaca 4ply, you will need approx 360 – 390 yards of the main colour and 55 – 70 yards of the contrast colour. You will also need 4mm/US6 and 5mm/US8 circular needles.

The pattern is all written, no charts required and so is suitable for an advanced beginner knitter.

You can get this pattern completely free of charge until midnight thursday 27th (UK time) just by adding it to your cart on ravelry and entering the code MEANDER

Hearts at last

After all the trials and tribulations that I had with designing a heart themed shawl it has finally been finished, blocked, photographed and is now being test knitted. I don’t know why I had so many problems with the design of this shawl, think I may have been suffering from some sort of mental block because the design is not overly complicated. I am really pleased with how it turned out and hopefully my test knitters won’t find too many issues with the pattern.

If all goes to plan I will be releasing this pattern at the beginning of July.

Rock Pool Shawl

My Rock Pool Shawl pattern is finally available to download!

This shawlette is knit all in one piece from the top down with the main body knit all in garter stitch leading to a pretty, open lace edging. Rock Pool is perfect for both varigated and solid coloured yarns and is ideal for using up that special skein of yarn you have been saving.

You will need approximately 420 yards of fingering / 4ply yarn and 4mm needles, my sample is shown in Cherry Tree Hill supersock merino in the peacock colourway. The lace edging can be easily lengthed or shortened to suit how much yarn you have.

The instructions are all written, no charts required for this one and so is suitable for an advanced beginner.

For today only (5th June) you can get this shawl for free by entering the code halfway on the ravelry purchase page.

Between a rock and a knitting place

I’ve had a bit of a knitting slump in the past couple of weeks, suffering from a lack of inspiration /ideas, possibly due to the shawl I’ve been working on going wrong over and over again. But I have now finally resolved the issue (after making it sit in the naughty corner for a few days) and am now zooming along on my sample. I took some time off from shawls and finished a pair of socks for myself (which i started nearly a year ago!) and have also done some more squares on my giant blanket, sometimes mindless knitting is whats needed.

Judging by the huge dark cloud in the distance today isn’t looking like a very good gardening day, so instead am planning on spending some time pattern writing. I love coming up with the designs and the knitting up the sample, but the pattern writing is definitely more of an effort, possibly because in the back of my mind I keep thinking that I am going to miss something really important.

The picture is of Rock Pool my latest finished shawl. It was one of those projects that was completely transformed by blocking, I wish I had taken a pre-blocking picture now as it looked awful and I was worried that it would never look like a shawl, but a bit of blocking and it became the shawl i had first envisioned.  Now I shall stop procrastinating and make a start on the pattern writing, if it all works out well I may release Meandros tomorrow, Wednesday at the latest, and Rock Pool by the end of the week too.

Pretty in Pink

Here is a better picture of meandros, my latest shawl, I’ve just finished writing up the pattern, will put it on to the testing board in the next couple of days, hopefully there will be people out there that would like to test the pattern for me!

I’ve also taken some more pictures of my mimsy shawl, I seem to have been going through a pink phase.

This past week has not been a good knitting week, firstly I was ill with a bug then my eldest son was too, hopefully that is the end of the lurgie in my house for a while. But that said I have finished another shawl, this one is another celebration of garter stitch knit in cherrytree hill supersock merino. I’m really quite pleased with how it has turned out, it is a pattern perfect for varigated yarns, it is currently still nameless, but I am thinking rock pool as the combination of garter stitch, holey lace and the green/purple yarn remind me somewhat of seaweed at the bottom of a pool.

I am hoping to get this new pattern written up and available in the next couple of days, photos have been taken and if I get time I will add them here later. I have already started on my next shawl, this is a pattern I have been working on for a while now, knit from end to end with what I think is a very pretty and unique edging. A lovely shawl deserves lovely yarn so I am using wollmeise twin in petite poison no5 which is a wonderfully deep shade of purple. This shawl may take a couple of weeks to get knitted as I am also working on a couple of designs for small accessories and also updating and improving my pattern layout, but being busy is good…..

 

Meandering

I haven’t blogged much recently but I have been busy and have just finished another shawl!  This one is inspired by greek tile patterns and because of this I’ve named it Meandros, a meander or meandros is a decorative border constructed from a continuous line (so wikipedia tells me) and this is what I’ve included within my shawl.

Here’s a sneak peek showing the tile inspired section, the shawl is a half circle, knitted from the top down with the meander pattern finished off with a lace edging. It is knit all in one piece and really is very easy, my sample was knit in Artesano 100% alpaca 4ply, the red contrast colour was is Berocco ultra alpaca fine, I think alpaca could be my new favourite fibre! I still need to weigh the finished shawl to get an approximate yardage and finish writing up the pattern, hopefully will be putting it out for testing this week.