Tulle Shawl........Knitvent 2017.

 Hello my friends, I hope you've all had a good week. I've updated the look of my blog since last week, it has stayed the same for many years so thought it could do with a change. I really like it and think it suits my style more now that I'm more of a knitting blog, I hope you agree.

I'm back to tell you that the second window from Knitvent 2017 is now open, it is a stunning one skein shawl with the most perfect name, the Tulle Shawl.

I used The Wool Barn in Ballet Slipper, I knew straight away that  I'd be using this for the Tulle Shawl, with the colourway name and The Nutcracker theme, it had to be done. There is also the option of adding beads, just for that extra sparkle over the holiday season.

This shawl was such a pleasure to knit with a simple garter stitch body and then a delicate lace border. A little tip, when knitting on the garter stitch section, use a progress keeper just so you know which is the right side of your work. I used this gorgeous, beaded Christmas tree from Eva Faith Etsy shop. She has so many beautiful handmade stitch markers and progress keepers, each one perfectly handcrafted and the quality is superb.

I did add the beads to my shawl, I used clear so it's very understated but still has that bit of sparkle. I used size 6 beads with a 1mm crochet hook. Helen gives a very clear explanation on how to add beads so don't be intimidated with beadwork.

How pretty is the border? The lace isn't too complicated and is very intuitive, after the first row you will know if you've made a mistake before getting too far as it all lines up. I think this would be a perfect first project for those who want to give lace and bead knitting a go.

I think this will make the prettiest accessory over the Christmas festivities, it would also make a great gift for someone special.

Last week, Helen Stewart released this amazing Nutcracker kit with a bag from Louleigh, a skein of yarn from the The Wool Kitchen and a progress keeper from Eva Faith.

The kit sold out within minutes but there are pre-orders over at The Wool Kitchen for this delightful yarn, also Eva Faith has some of the toy soldier progress keepers and coordinating stitch markers in her shop update on Friday 17th. Both are them are perfect for this shawl project.

Thanks for stopping by and happy knitting.
xxxxDebxxxxx

Snowmelt MKAL 2017........coming soon.

Hello there.......

               

              Where has this week gone, it's flown by but as promised I'm back and have a renewed love for my blog. I would like to thank you for the welcome back comments and to Stefanie for the advice on different blog platforms.

Today I want to talk about a test knit which I've been working on.......

"It’s that moment between the last slow weeks of winter and the first sweet days of spring. There’s a gentle tension in the air as the thaw begins: the cosy joys of hibernation give way to a pleasant restlessness. Your heart stirs and the sap starts to run. This is a season of growth and change, but it begins quietly, deep in the frozen ground, before the last of the ice has even disappeared.

 

This time of year feels nearly miraculous. It offers a chance to renew the dreams that have slept for so long beneath a blanket of snow. The earth is preparing to surprise itself again with a wild swell of springtime creativity. It’s a call to adventure and an invitation to stretch our own creative powers. It’s time to uncover what this fresh new season has in store." 

Helen of Curious Handmade is hosting another MKAL (mystery knit along) and after the success of last year's, the Summertime Shawl, Helen is back with another stunning shawl design, the Snowmelt MKAL 2017. After reading those beautiful, descriptive words who wouldn't want to join in.  

I can't give too much away as what would be the fun in that, been a mystery and all but what I can tell you, it is a three colour shawl! Helen used some gorgeous La Bien Aimee, single ply fingering weight yarn but any 4ply/sock yarn can be used. This pattern is a great stash buster for all those one off skeins that your not sure what to do with, speckled and varigated yarn also work really well with this pattern.

 

I did stashbust and used three pretty skeins that I bought from the Yarningham yarn festival, it's Whimzy Sokkusu O, a Superwash Merino in colours Ethereal, Dusky Rose and Chocolate. I absolutely love single ply yarn and after looking through my stash for this project, it made me realize how little single ply I have. I will remedy that and this year I will buy more soft, cosy single ply yarns from the yarn festivals I attend. Some of my favourite singles are La Bien Aimee, Mad Tosh Light and The Wool Barn Silky Singles so they are on my list to purchase.

There is already lots of chatter on the Snowmelt MKAL Ravelry Chat Thread, so if you want to join in the fun, it goes on sale on Ravelry this Monday, 23rd Januray at an early bird price, so look out for that. The MKAL runs for 5 weeks with one clue each week........

Thursday Feb 2nd: First clue is released
Thursday Feb 9th: Second clue released
Thursday Feb 16th: Third clue released
Thursday Feb 23rd: Fourth clue released
Thursday March 2nd: Fifth clue released

Thank you so much for stopping by and happy knitting.

xxxxDebxxxx

Succulent Shawl by Maria Montzka.

Hello my friends, I hope you've all had a good week. I wanted to pop in and tell you that the Succulent Shawl by Maria Montzka that I test knit last month, has now been released. It's a top down triangular shawl with lace and stockinette sections at the top, finished with a beautiful lace section and picot bind off.

I used Eden Cottage Titus 4ply, hand-dyed especially for The Golden Skein, Power of Three Yarn Club, it was beautiful to knit with and has a lovely sheen with the 50% silk content.

The actual pattern calls for two x 100g skeins and makes a beautiful, large, lace shawl, very cosy for the autumn and winter months. I didn't have two skeins of the same colour so I did a smaller, one skein version, which is perfect for how I wear my shawls, just draped around my neck, like a scarf. Maria advises you on the pattern on how to change the size, I just did three repeats of Section A and used 70g of my skein. I probably could have made it a little bit bigger but was worried I wouldn't have enough yarn for the picot bind off.

Here's my finished Succulent Shawlette after blocking, it has such a gorgeous drape, the lace looks so fine and delicate, almost like cobweb lace. The weather is dropping here in the UK and definitely has that Autumnal feel so I've been wearing this first thing in the morning, on the way to work. It's perfect as it feels so light and airy but keeps the chill off.

Maria announced on her latest episode that she is having a Shawl Season KAL which this pattern will be perfect to take part in. If you've never seen Maria's podcast which is called Stitched in Sweden, I urge you to take a look. She is such a talented knitter and makes some beautiful projects as well as giving great tips for knitters.

I'm taking part on Nicole's KCCO and Ginny's Yarn Along, where you can pick up so much inspiration, I love browsing everyone else's projects.

xxxxDebxxxx

 

Whispering Pines Shawl.......

Hello my friends, I hope you are all well. I'm still in Stoke with my daughter and beautiful grandson but I have been able to do some knitting, this week.

I've cast on Whispering Pines by Molly from A Homespun House, I fell in love with the design as soon as the pattern was released but wanted to finish some WIPs before I cast on another project.

The main part of the body has a subtle texture and the border has a beautiful lace panel, it's so pretty. I'm using Sparkleduck Galaxy in hot pink which has little subtle colour but it's a bigger shawl and takes more than 100g. I had the Sparkleduck which is 150g in my stash so decided to use that, the more I knit though the more I like it in this colour.

I'm still reading The Dress Thief by Natalie Meg Evans, it's a very enjoyable read and I'm 70% through it.

I'm linking to Ginny's Yarn Along and Nichole's KCCO.

Here's a photo of little Caiden, rockin' his Nana's hand knits. Have a great week and thanks for stopping by.

xxxxDebxxxxx

Curious Collective 2014 Shawl.

Do you remember this photo from last month, this is all that I could show you at the time as I was test knitting for Helen Stewart, the pattern was released yesterday so here's what I was working on.

It's the Curious Collective 2014 Shawl as I explained on yesterday's post, this design is a little bit different, as part of the Curious Handmade Group on Ravelry we had some input into the design of the shawl, we got to chose the colour, the shape, and stitch patterns.

It's a fairly large crescent shape shawl using two colours, starting off with a simple garter stitch body with some lace and cable stitches.

I used 70g of Artesano 100% Alpaca 4ply for the main colour and 40g Juno Fibre Arts Alice in Second Sight, the Juno was actually leftover from a previous project so is a great way to use up a part skein. Again this pattern was really well written and simple to follow as are all of Helen's designs.

It's only a two stich cable so there's not really any need to use a cable needle which makes it much quicker, you can find a good tutorial here, for knitting cables without a cable needle.

I also mentioned there's a fun Knit Along going on over on the group called Curious Collective 2014 DKAL, it's a little bit different from your usual KAL, as all the colour choices were very popular and it was very close on the voting, Helen thought it would be fun to pick your colour combo and chose a tribe which best suits your colours.

The choice of tribes are Space Chic, French Vintage, English Rose, Enchanted Forest, and Art Deco, you can find out more about the colours and which tribe to join, here and here. Once you've picked your colours, which don't have to be the colours suggested, you can use any brand or colour yarn that takes your fancy, for instance the colours I've chosen would go well as part of the French Vintage tribe so I could request that team and get started chatting and interacting with my fellow team mates. There are some great prizes to be won including a Social Media Maven prize so whenever you show photos/talk about your project on social media use the hashtag #CCDKAL to be in with a chance of winning. The pattern is available to purchase here.

I also wanted to show you how I blocked mine to get the beautiful scalloped picot edge, after soaking for 30 minutes, lay your shawl out onto your bed or foam squares pinning the top to get the crescent shape, then pin every picot bind off point, it is time consuming but worth the effort to get the nice sharp points.

I'm linking to KCCO over on Nicole's blog Frontier Dreams.

Happy Knitting

xxxxDebxxxx

Yarn Along........Two Hats and Two Shawls.

Hello, how is your week going? This week I've been working on two hats and two shawls, the first hat is a test knit for Melody of Manderine's blog. Check out her blog you won't be sorry, it's full of pretty photos of the Latvian countryside, nature, knitting and recipes, her photos are so tranquil and after reading her posts I always feel very peaceful.

I received the pattern on Thursday evening, cast on Friday and had it finished and blocked by the Sunday. It is a quick knit using worsted weight yarn, a fair amount of garter stitch and a beautiful textured panel at the front. If you follow me on Instagram you will have already seen the FO, modeled by my daughter but I'll share the photos on my blog, Friday.

Jodie kept the hat and took it home with her so I immediately cast on another one for me using a variegated yarn, I should also have this finished by Friday and will give you full details of the yarn on Friday.

The next project I've been knitting on this week is my Leftie by Martina Behm, as I'd said last week, Zena, Rachel and myself are all knitting this pattern with yarn we'd bought from Unwind. Zena and I don't live too far away from each other so we arranged to meet at The Library of Birmingham for a coffee and to knit on our Leftie's. We had a great morning, chatting and knitting away and hope to meet up again soon.

If you are in Birmingham, I highly recommend paying a visit to the library, there are activities going on, thousands of books to peruse, two coffee bars, lounge areas to sit and relax but my favourite part was The Secret Garden.

It's on the seventh floor and is a balcony wrapped around the building with an urban garden and places to sit, this was the view of Birmingham from the balcony. Unfortunately, it was a little bit too chilly to sit and knit up there on Saturday, I'm hoping for an Indian Summer so can go back and sit up there and take in the views.

Shawl two is the Menehune Shawlette by Mel, Episode Three of With Mel is now up with the third part of the pattern which is the middle section of the border.

This is a simple garter stitch section which didn't take long to complete, so I now only have the last part to finish which will be in next weeks episode. This has been such a fun knit, I really enjoyed this week's episode, she took us on a boat trip with her family and of course it's great to sit and "knit with Mel" !!!!!

 

I'm into my thrillers at the moment and have just started reading Fresh Doubt by Eva Hudson, I've not read any of her books before and so far, so good, I'm enjoying this book, the first in a series of books featuring Ingrid Skyberg, FBI Agent.

I'm linking to Yarn Along, WIP Wednsday and Keep Calm, Craft On, I've decided to post it a day early this week as one I've written it in advance and two, Nicole from Frontier Dreams, posts her KCCO on a Tuesday.

 

There is just one last thing I would like to say, Mel has just wrote a heartfelt post and would like some help raising some money for a bereaved family, if you could please pop over and read it, she would really appreciate it. She has just released a shawl pattern called Hapa and to help this family from 19th-26th August, Mel will give all profits from the pattern to this family who's life has tragically been ripped apart. I've bought mine, every little helps.

Thank you for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your week.

xxxxDebxxxx

 

Sunburst Shawl.......

Do you remember this yarn from the other week? I was using it for a test knit, I can now show you the finished project.

 

It's the Sunburst Shawl by Helen Stewart, and is the August release for Dream Big 2014. If you haven't heard of Dream Big, it's a collection of ten patterns and you receive one a month over ten months or you can buy the patterns separate as they are released but by buying the e-book the patterns only work out at £1.20!!!!!

It's an elegant, beaded crescent shaped shawl with an Art Deco feel, perfect for summer evenings. I used Yarn Pony Show Pony 4ply in the colour Berry Surprised, it is a beautiful blend of 50% merino and 50% silk and was perfect for this pattern.

I used size 6 Miyuki bead in Aqua Transparent with Fushia lining which suited the colour of the yarn perfectly, when it catches the light, it looks really pretty. I bought my beads from The Bead Merchant, they have a super quick delivery service and great customer service. I prefer to use a .75mm you could use a 1mm but sometimes the 1mm won't go through the centre.

Here's a close up, you can see the beautiful starburst pattern. I really enjoyed this knit and it was the first time I'd added beads to my knitting, it was really easy and I have since added beads to another shawl I'm working on. If you fancy giving it a go, there's a good feature on Knitty.com but the actual pattern gives good instructions.

Have a good week.

xxxxDebxxxx

Yarn Along......Vintage Knitting Patterns.

 

How are you all doing? I hope you all had a good weekend. I haven't got much to show you today, I've done a few more rows on my Garter Stitch Stripy Baby Blanket. I'm using Rico Essential Cotton DK, which I really like, sometimes cotton yarn can be quite splity but this is fine, you can find the colours I've used on my Ravelry page, just click on the link.

I'm looking through my collection of vintage baby knitting patterns for a unisex matinee jacket. I'm always on the lookout for old patterns in charity shops and vintage stores, most of the patterns I have are from the 50's and 60's. Don't you love the old style matinee jackets, they are so cute on newborn babies and most with matching bootees. Hopefully I will have cast one on by next week to share with you.

I've started a new project, it's the Radiance Shawl by Helen Stewart, it's a beautiful, large lace shawl using a lace weight yarn. It's been a while since I've knit with 2ply, I'm using a Skein Queen Laceweight yarn but unfortunately when I bought it, it didn't have a ballband so I haven't got a clue what base it is or the colourway. The main colour is a gorgeous midnight blue with Stellina, it reminds me of twinkling stars in the night sky. If anybody has recognizes this yarn, please could you let me know.

I saw this great idea on the Pom Pom Quarterly blog, instead of using an highlighter pen to mark off where you are on the pattern, you use Washi Tape instead. I've got the pattern in a plastic Poly Pocket, to protect it and I use the tape directly on the pocket and move it down after every row, it's low tack, removable and each small piece lasts for ages. I've moved it 47 times and it's still as sticky as when I first used it.

This week I'm reading The Butterfly Box by Santa Montefiore, I love her books, I have only just started it but so far it's looking good. I have read another book since last week, it took me three evenings to finish, I couldn't put it down. It was called Tideline by Penny Hancock, it was a very dark and disturbing read and I really didn't expect the ending, a great read if you like this genre.

Check out this weeks Yarn Along and WIP Wednesday, for more Work in Progress, this week.

Thanks for stopping by, enjoy your week.

xxxxDebxxxx

 

Yarn Along.......Striped Garter Stitch Baby Blanket.

 

Hello my friends, I hope you all had a fabulous Easter weekend and the weather was kind to you. We had our usual family get together as we do most high days and holidays!!!!

Jodie came home for the weekend and on Saturday we went to Stourport on Severn, had a lovely walk along the river then had lunch at little pub overlooking the river, watching all the boats, sail by.

My Mom and Dad had us all round on Easter Sunday for tea and had an Easter Egg hunt for Olivia, it started to rain so they had to be hid around the house.

It didn't take her long to find them all, here she is looking very proud of herself!

Instead of an Easter egg, we bought her this cute apron. My friend Lyn makes them and fills the pockets with Crayola's, I think it's a great gift for kids.

As you can see, she was very happy with it!!!!

Now onto the knitting, I've been working on the Striped Garter Stitch Baby Blanket and as I said in the last post, I asked my friends on Instagram to pick the order of colours.

I went down the comments in order and this is how it turned out, I've used all nine colours now, so will carry on picking the colours randomly until I run out of yarn. It matches "baby's" new toy, that my Mom bought. We find out in four weeks, if it's a boy or a girl!!!!!! Eeek, *excited*!!!!!!

The other thing I've been working on this week is the test knit for Sarah from Crafts from the Cwtch, the pattern is due for release very soon and will give you more details with a pattern giveaway.

The only other project that has seen some love this week are my Crocus Socks, I've turned the heel and now on the leg. I've also started a new book called The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh. I'm having trouble putting this down, I'm really enjoying it and won't take me long to finish this one.

Check out more Work in Progress over at Ginny's Yarn Along and Tami's WIP Wednesday.

Thank you so much for stopping by, I hope to have a FO for Friday, so see you then.

xxxxDebxxxx