Chalice scarf

I’ve never knitted with linen before, but Line by Sandes Garn is a linen-cotton blend that I’ve seen used successfully in lace patterns so I gave it a go and it worked well. The pattern, Chalice, is actually a baby blanket, but was easily modified to a scarf. For the details, have a look on my Ravelry project page.
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I added clear faceted beads in a triangular pattern at each edge. Even though the yarn is lovely, it just needed that little sparkle of light.
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A provisional cast on enabled me to work the pattern seamlessly from the centre of the scarf towards the edges. This means the pattern is offset by half a stitch in the centre, but I think it looks pretty good. Much better than a seam!

Oceanspray edging scarf

I love the edging of the triangular shawl Oceanspray, but the body is a bit on the dull side for me. But then I came across this project and realised there was a way to utilise that edging in a different way! I've added a garter stitch border where the main body would be, it is widest at the centre and tapers towards the edges. This, along with some intentionally curved blocking, helps create a crescent shape that falls nicely over the shoulders.
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For the details on how I modified the pattern, please visit my Ravelry project page.
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My heaven

This shawl, you guys, this shawl... Wow. It's been a long time coming - I cast on in the summer of 2012!

I wanted something complicated as a contrast to a garter stitch project I had started at the same time, and complicated is truly what I got. That edging was no walk in the park! I had not one, but two lifelines in my knitting until that edging was done, and I needed them both on a couple of occasions... In contrast, the main body was done in three intensive knitting days.

It's big and airy, with incredibly open lace, a challenging edging and a much easier main body. I loved this project even though it had many long rests. Tricky thing to photograph too, I can't seem to get the colour right in any of my pictures. It's darker and less pink than in the pictures below.

 I did a few modifications to the pattern, but I won't bore you with it here. Have a look at my Ravelry page for the details.

Post-blocking measurements: 85 cm from neck to corner, 170 cm across. Bigger than anticipated, and I still feel like I could stretch it just a little bit more. Blocked to a round-ish triangle. Love the result! :)

Luxury silk shawl

This shawl is knitted in the most luxurious yarn I've used yet: Handmaiden 100% silk, hand painted in the most amazingly beautiful colours. It took three weeks of internal debate before I had the nerve to open my wallet for this skein… So expensive. But sooo beautiful! The shawl is blocked to a radius of 67cm, which was probably a bit much - the last few pins had to be pulled very hard… But she’s still in one piece, and the lace pattern looks good. :)
 

I've combined two patterns from a set for this shawl: Camping and Gull Wings. Stitch count calculations for the pattern transitions can be found on my Ravelry project page. In fact, I could happily knit an entire shawl in the Slanting Twigs chart, that curvy section in the middle... Love the look, it's a bit unusual with its asymmetry.

The above picture shows the colours exactly as they are, no enhancement. Amazing! The impression is a bit calmer in general, because of the airy pattern and light reflective quality of the silk. Mainly golden and silvery, with spots of bronze and blue. Some colour pooling issues in parts of the Gull Wings section, but not too bad. Pretty much exactly half a skein used, so she weighs next to nothing (~50g). And it means that I actually have enough yarn for another shawl! What to knit, what to knit..... :) :)

Purple Echo shawl

I've made an Echo shawl once before, and liked the pattern for its ease and look. The rounded flowers are a nice change from the more angled stuff you usually see. Being familiar with the pattern, I knitted this one up in no time. Because of an originally tight time table, I did 7-loop nupps instead of 9-loop, but they look good all the same. Blocking was done a bit more aggressively than the first time, because the yarn is springy, and during the first few days of wearing my first shawl shrunk back a bit. Ravelry link.

Branching Out repeated

A quick knit for grandma. Added natural white Lace to grey Alpaca for a slightly lighter and more varied colour. Liked the result! It knits up fast that way too, which is always a nice thing.
Also, it was fun to get a real impression of how much my lace knitting skills have improved. I’ve never thought about it until I re-knitted this pattern, which was my first attempt at lace knitting in 2010…
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Measurements: 16 x 90 cm before blocking, 21 x 130 cm during blocking, 19 x 125 cm after blocking. The Alpaca is springy, and contracted when released from the pins. Ravelry link.
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I thought I'd show you how I block straight edges, just for fun! Maybe you've seen it before, but hey, it's just one picture. On my bright, energetic green exercise mat. :) I don't own blocking wires and last time I did this scarf I used a million and a half pins, which only served to give me an edge of tiny scallops and a back that ached for three days... No more, I decided, and came up with this cheap DIY solution when the next triangular shawl was ready for blocking. I weave a strong cotton thread into the edge and stretch it taut between two strong pins. Every 10 cm or so I add another pin to keep it straight. Works like a charm. Two tips: weave in the cotton thread before soaking your knitware, and make sure it's more than long enough for the project in its finished size.

In the WIP basket

It took three weeks of internal debate before I had the nerve to open my wallet for this skein… So expensive. But sooo beautiful! First attempt at knitting 100% pure silk. The pattern is an easy going one, I can actually knit this lace while talking to people. Track progress and view details on Ravelry.

Now this one, though... It has tought me the difference between lace knitting and knitted lace. I'm telling you, this one's tricky. This is definitely not a bring-along project, it's a sit-at-home-in-deep-concentration project... But just look at the delicate result! Track the (most likely slow) progress and view details on Ravelry.

Not-so-frozen leaves beaded shawl

The thing about lace knitting... There are only a few items that allow you to immerse yourself in that kind of knitting, and those are shawls, scarves and table cloths. And since lace knitted table cloths really aren't anything I'd ever use, shawls it is. This pattern is called Frozen Leaves, but I've done mine in a lush, vibrant green and beaded it for added shine.

Frogging mohair is a nightmare, so I wanted a simple, classic design. The large leaves of this pattern appealed to me, and I’ve done enough knitting now to be able to figure out the pattern and recipe despite its obvious shortcomings.
The yarn, however, is gorgeous! DROPS Kid-Silk is soft and thin, and still strong. The matte, dark green mohair has a light, glossy silk core that gives lots of shine and life to this shawl. It’s strangely warm despite its feathery light feel… :)

The last row in pattern, with beading, took me the better part of three whole evenings. Yes, you read that right. THREE evenings. For ONE row! But it was all worth it. :) Not enough beads for another row, so I ended it there.
There are twelve leaves along the center spine, and a few rows of filler pattern at the edge. So this is quite big. Finished measurements: 90cm from the neck down, 180 cm across. Big&beautiful. The beads really make a big difference, adding a lot of shine and brightness to an otherwise quite dark shawl. Love it. :) Details on my Ravelry page.

Hello sunshine!

After months and months of steel grey skies and seemingly unending downpour, this warm yellow alpaca yarn kept begging me to be wrapped around some knitting needles and made into something that could brighten up any rainy day! How could I resist? When looking through my Ravelry project page, it is immediately clear that this is most definitely not my usual colour scheme. I think I should be more bold in the future, because I absolutely love this shawl. :) The lovely yellow works well with both my dark grey winter coat, and my cool lilac autumn coat. A wonderful splash of colour!
-This shawl measures 62 cm from the neck down, 125 cm across. So, not a big shawl for me, closer to a shoulderette. I’m using this more as a scarf than a proper shawl, but it also works well if I'd like to cover up a V-neck top on cold days (as demonstrated in the first picture). The pattern is easily adjusted for size, because you can end on whatever number of repeats of the main flower chart you'd like.
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The excellent pattern is called the Echo Flower Shawl. The only tricky part is the nupps, those big blobs you see lining the cathedral window pattern. The secret is to knit loose, loose, loose!! Purling those 9 loops together into one was a challenge at first, but as it is with everything in life, practice makes perfect. More details on my Ravelry page.

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I have a little bit of yarn left, and will try to make some matching accessories... More sunshine to the rainy days!

Beaded Vernal Equinox shawl

Some knitting projects are addictive. Really, really addictive! This is the Vernal Equinox shawl, knit in light blue DROPS Lace and beaded with silver-lined 6/0 clear seed beads. It was supposed to be a just-in-case knitting project, that I could bring when I couldn't work on other things. Haha... Famous last words. Once I started it was difficult to put it down, and when I started beading it was simply impossible! "Just one more row before bed" is a common statement, but when the rows are close to 500 stitches the hours are quickly lost. ;)
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I've done a few triangular and rectangular shawls, but this is the first time doing a semi-circle. Not sure if this qualifies as a half-pi? It was a strain to block, believe me! Getting all the distances and angles right took a lot more work than simply stretching out straight edges. Lacking blocking wires, I strung a strong cotton crochet thread through the stitches along the diameter line and pulled it tight to make a straight line, and it worked really well! It took 280 pins to block out the scalloped edge - every last pin I had and I still had to resort to safety pins and sewing needles for the last points. Post-blocking radius is ca 92 cm.

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After a bit of internal debate, I decided to bead the shawl although it wasn't designed for beading. I was afraid the beads would weigh the delicate shawl down too much, but even though there are 320 beads I estimate their weight to be no more than 5 grams. In comparison, the total yarn weight is pretty exactly 100 grams. I wanted a subtle effect, and subtle is what I got! Almost too subtle maybe? I don't think it would have hurt to add even more. A girl loves her glitter, right?

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When looked at from the front, you can hardly see the beads. They are strategically placed along the two dominant vertical lines in the pattern in the three last clues.

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But when the light hits the beads just right, the whole thing sparkles! It's very tricky to capture on camera. I've yet to try out the effect in a party setting, so I don't know exactly how strong the effect will be in real life. We'll see!

Details are also on my Ravelry page.

Jeanie - all done! (picture&text heavy)

Here she is, all done!

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The pictures show the dramatic change from the pre-blocking photos in my previous post. The pattern is emphasized and brought out with great clarity. Love it! I'm pleased the blocking worked so well, especially since I had no idea how effective it would be. It's a striking difference!

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And in case you are wondering - yes, those are reversible cables! They look exactly the same on both sides! Oh joy divine. :) Those of you who have knitted cables know how ugly they usually look on the wrong side. This concept of a cable that looked identical on both sides seemed a little like magic to me. (In fact, it's really just a little bit of 1x1 rib, so what looks like a C4B is actually a C8BR.) A shawl is the perfect project for a reversible cable, as it (unlike, for instance, a sweather) doesn't really have an inside that can be hidden from sight.

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I was a little bit terrified to start this project, but it turned out so much easier than I had feared! There were a whole bunch of things I've never done before, and some techniques I hadn't even heard of. Knitting from a chart was a little bit scary, not to mention doing three charts at the same time... Temporary cast on, cables on extra needles, reversible cables, drop stitches, cable cast-off, grafting, blocking, the list goes on. I can't imagine what I would have done without all the lovely people out there in the online knitting community, who have spent their time doing all sorts of great tutorials and posting them for us lesser beings to learn from. Thank you all!

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The charts looked complicated and I figured I'd be slaving over them during the entire knitting process. Much to my surprise I tossed the charts before I had even done two repeats! The logic and rythm of the pattern was as clear as day. And from there on it was a breeze. Even after 170cm of knitting I wasn't tired of it at all - I could probably have kept on knitting for another meter before getting bored. Had I known how much she would stretch I would have stopped knitting much earlier though. All good things must come to an end, and the cables running along the sides were (with a great deal of concentration) continued along the cast-off edge and the temporary cast-on edge and grafted together. And I have to say that dropping those 10 metres of stitches at the end was exciting, if a little terrifying. ;)

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To match this very long post, a little picture to give you an idea of how insanely long this shawl turned out to be:

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Could look nice with a long formal dress perhaps?

The humble beginning - The tricky cable cast-off - Nearly done - Jeanie shawl pattern

Nearly done! (picture heavy)

You've seen her before, in her humble beginning and in the tricky cast-off-cable stage: it's Jeanie! Having finally grafted the four cables to each other and weaved in all the ends, it's time for the finishing touch...

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So this was my starting point. A long, thin strip of knitware... You can see the shawl widening in the ends, because the cable running around the edge shouldn't stretch as much as the rest when blocked, so in its unblocked state it looks too big. At this point she measures about 50 cm by 180 cm - I forgot to write down the measurements, of course, but I think that's just about right.

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She's not looking too bad, I'm really quite proud of myself! But the pattern doesn't show well when she's draped around my shoulders. And there was that stretching effect on the short sides I mentioned earlier. So it was time for yet another thing I've never done before: blocking!
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Soaking...

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Getting started...
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After 50 minutes, 122 pins and one sore back, there she is! I know, I know, the edges are hardly straight... I went back and adjusted some of the pins after taking the picture. Bear with me, it was my first time doing anything like this. In this stage she measures 70cm by 270cm! Oh wow, she stretched much more lenghtwise than what I had expected. She'd better shrink down a bit that way when dry... I was hoping to make her wider, but couldn't stretch her more without bending the pins or worrying about damaging the yarn.
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In her stretched state the pattern is extremely visible! Pictures of her all done and gorgeous (hopefully) are due in a day or two, for now she has to rest and dry completely. We'll be back. ;)

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(ETA: here she is, all done!)

Transformation

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Jeanie is currently transforming from this...

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...to this!

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Working with two and three double-pointed needles right next to the cable needle is tricky to say the least, but she's looking good so far! I can't wait to see her all finished! :)

'Tis the season... (or maybe not)

I saw this knitted ascot first on The Purl Bee and figured I'd like to make it some day. With a little help from Google, I found a few free recipes and set about making something of my own.

And why do I make thick wool scarves on the hottest days we've had this year, you say? Well, I'm more than half-way on my Jeanie shawl and it has become a rather large and warm bundle in my lap when I'm knitting. And in this heat it's simply indurable! So I needed something smaller. That, and I couldn't resist digging into my newly aquired stash of lovely Eskimo yarn... Just look at these amazingly rich mixed colours! (Similar to my skin, which is now a mix of ivory white, blushing pink and lobster red. Anything but tan.)

About a week ago I went ever so slightly crazy in my local yarn shop. 40% off on nearly all DROPS yarn?! I came out with a huge shopping bag full of yarn, and all I can think now is I should have bought MORE!

So if you're looking for recipes on this, here are a few links: The Purl Bee basic knitted ascot, Page's tip on changing colours, a free baby version, and the DROPS Design free ascot pattern (Norwegian) that I used as the main base reference for my scarf. Enjoy! By the way, did I mention that this ascot knits up in a day? ;)

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Right now, I'm back to my baby socks again. Wow, I felt awkward with my five 2,5mm double-pointed needles after knitting in the flat on those huge 9mm circular needles! But the socks are perhaps the very best knitting project for hot days - very, very small.