I feel a new shawl coming on...

A couple of weeks ago my friend Fay showed me beautiful shawl she had knitted, a Dotted Rays by Stephen West. It was beautiful, and a really nice shape, so I immediately decided that I needed to make one for myself. Fay has just started dyeing her own yarns under the name Bea and Rose (you can find her on Etsy, Facebook and Instagram) and she has some lovely colourways. A couple of weeks ago she had a little sale, so I picked up a really pretty skein in shades of purple and grey with the intention of making the Dotted Rays.

Obviously I had plenty of things already on the needles, so was never going to cast on immediately. Last week I looked on Ravelry at the projects associated with the pattern and saw this one*; it is perfect. I added it to my favourites for future reference, thinking that it was a project for one day, as I don't have anything in my stash that would work.

But then on Saturday I had a thought. I do have something in my stash that would work; it would in fact be perfect: at Yarndale a couple of years ago I picked up a 5 x 50g purple gradient set from WooSheeps that I've never found a use for. This is that yarn's moment. Suddenly the Dotted Rays shawl has been accelerated up my to do list and the yarn is wound and ready to go. I cannot wait to have it finished. It's making me so happy that I've decided that it's going to be one of my #BestYearEverKAL projects (no, I haven't decided which one I'm swapping out, but as the Antler jumper is currently on the naughty step, it might be that one).

*Ravelry link; you must be signed in to Ravelry for this link to work. Joining Ravelry is free and an excellent resource for all things yarn-related.

Best Year Ever CKAL

Last year at The Flock launch party I met a lovely blogger and podcaster called Nikki.* I have been listening to her podcast Tea and Possibilities ever since (and if you haven't checked out her podcast already, I would definitely recommend it, especially if you like knitting, books, tea and Harry Potter; it's a lovely cheerful corner of the internet). This year Nikki is running a year long knit and crochet along (might even be a craft along, you'd have to check) called the Best Year Ever CKAL in her Ravelry group,* and the aim is to make four things over the course of the year that make you happy.

I know that joining in a CKAL so early in the year is clearly a breech of my "no more KALs" rule, but this one is pretty straightforward, and I was planning on making (at least) four things over the course of the year anyway, so I'm definitely on board. All you have to do is make four things and post about them in Nikki's Ravelry group.

So what are my four happy-making things?

1. Antler jumper 

I cast on an Antler cardigan for myself last year and rapidly decided I had started the wrong size and that I wanted a jumper rather than a cardigan. This year I am going to get that back on the needles and get the garment I want.

I'll be knitting it in Sirdar Wool Rich Aran, which I believe is discontinued - I managed to snag ten balls (that's a full kilo) for just over £25 last January with this garment in mind.

 

2. Lush cardigan

I have loved this Tin Can Knits pattern since before it came out a few years ago (I think I snuck a look at it on a testing thread). The cardigan is beautiful, and so unusual. I bought the yarn for it in a clearance sale at the department store near my parents' house at some point in 2015, definitely with a plan to use it for this pattern, and haven't got round to casting it on yet, but will do this year. For a minute I thought about completing it time for a yarn retreat I'm going to at the end of February, then remembered that was a crazy idea!

3. A squishy purple shawl

Having said I only got one ball of wool for Christmas, this week's post proved me wrong when the Christmas present from my brother arrived: two skeins of Malabrigo Worsted in an amazing shade of purple. This will definitely become a shawl for me to replace the purple one I made last year that was too itchy for me to wear. I'll probably use one of Susan Ashcroft's shawl patterns as I want to use every last scrap of yarn, and the Love Train shawl I made last year gets a lot of wear.

4. A reindeer head

I have talked myself out of knitting a unicorn head as my husband doesn't want an animal head up on the wall all year round, boo. But I think I can probably get away with a reindeer head instead as it only has to be out for about a month per year (though I am tempted to leave it up in the spare room all year round and decorate it seasonally for guests to appreciate).

What happy things are you planning on working on this year?

 

*You will need to be logged into Ravelry for these links to work. Ravelry is free to sign up to, and is an excellent resource for all things related to knitting and crochet.

 

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#knit1000g: It's cold outside

A couple of week's ago the weather suddenly turned cold. As a knitter, my cupboard is well-stocked with woolly hats, gloves and scarves, but as soon as the cold snap hit I realised a large gap in my winter wardrobe: I shawl that goes with any of my coats!

Before I had children, I had coats in several colours, mostly cosy woollen coats, with a waterproof for cycling and damp spring days. And since I've had children my coat wardrobe has been reduced to a ski jacket and a waterproof, both purple, and a smarter jacket which is black, but only appropriate when the weather is rather warmer. When I looked in the cupboard to get a scarf out I discovered that all my current scarves are blue.

My solution to my mismatched scarf problem was an obvious one: knit a new scarf. So a couple of weeks ago I spent the morning wandering round my house with a skein of purple chunky weight yarn draped round my neck. The yarn was Artesano British Wool (long since discontinued), a chunky weight yarn in a solid purple that was just the right colour, but I was a little concerned it might not be soft enough to wear around my neck. After an hour of having the yarn around my neck, with no itching, I decided that the yarn would be great for a big, chunky shawl to get me through the colder months.

Yarn testing: an unusual necklace

The next step was to hunt Ravelry for a chunky weight shawl pattern, and I came up with two likely contenders: Offhand Lace by Caitlin ffrench and Maya's shawl by Justyna Lorkowska. Both were what I was looking for: a straightforward, quick knit that I could have knitted before the weather got any colder.

I cast on Offhand Lace, and made several mistakes in the first few rows. I have no idea why (possibly the stinking cold I had at the time), but I just couldn't follow the pattern, so gave up and cast on Maya's shawl instead, with much more successful results.

The body of Maya's shawl is a simple stocking stitch triangular, so I worked away on the shawl happily on the train to London, and at various points over that weekend. Several Ravelry projects had noted that the shawl came it smaller than they'd like, so I increased until I had 161 sts before starting the lace.

The lace border went well at  first, with the leaves being just challenging enough to be interesting to knit, while not being too slow. I did struggle with the simple lace border though, for some reason I find I am prone to messing up simple stitch patterns that involve a lot of repetition, and that was certainly the case here, with the seven rows of simple lace taking me several sittings.

The pattern suggested going up a couple of needle sizes for the cast off, but I was being lazy and just did Jeny's surprisingly stretchy bind off as it saved going to hunt for another set of needles. I then darned in the ends and admired my new shawl.

Before blocking the shawl, I wrapped it round my neck bandana-style, which is how I wear shawls, and immediately had a panic about it not being big enough. I always do this with shawls; I pay little attention to gauge or finished dimensions (though I do often hold the centre of the shawl at my chin and see if half the shalw is about the same length as my arm - if it is, then the shawl should be a good length for wrapping), and am then concerned that the shawl will be too small. Rather than dwell on sizing issues, I put the shawl in the washing machine on a hand wash cycle and went out for the day.

When I got in later in the day, I pulled the shawl out of the washing machine and realised there had been no need to worry, the shawl is huge! I pinned it out to block and the span is over two metres.

And here it is, my finished shawl. The colour is perfect, and it definitely goes with all my outerwear, I just hope the weather is cold enough that I actually get to wear it this winter.

 

Beautiful lace

 

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I wrote the text for this post before I had worn the shawl out. There is a problem: even after my testing for itch, it is too itchy! I am very wool-sensitive, so I knew it was a risk. I am now trying to decide what to do with the shawl. Step one will be to take it to my knitting group on Monday night and see whether it's just me that finds it too scratchy... 

Huge, wonderful, but rather itchy