In the Making...

Another new pattern is released today. Meet Ammil. Ammil is an airy and wintery shawl, made using mohair lace yarn and edged in clear beads reminiscent of ice crystals. Written in multiple sizes, so you can choose the perfect size for your yarn. The beading is optional but they do add a little bit of weight to the edge, which makes the shawl drape beautifully. Ammil was, originally, released for A Good Yarn's Christmas Eve Box. Since the cold winter season and crystal sparkles were the main focus of the design, I named it Ammil, which means "the thin film of ice that lacquers all leaves, twigs and blades of grass when a freeze follows a partial thaw". My preference for wearing crescent shawls is bandana-style around the neck but you can always wear it in the traditional style around the shoulders. Ammil uses Rowan Kidsilk Haze, which is a mohair and silk mix. There are a range of sizes that uses either 2 or 3 balls of Kidsilk Haze. For an introductory discount, use AMMIL...

So a new pattern. Meet Yarra, a gorgeous lace stole worked in two identical pieces, so the pretty Estonian lace edge is shown to its best. Designed in 6 sections using different lace skills but joined by relaxing knit and purl sections for an enjoyable knit.  The “Yarra” name comes from A Good Yarn, which sits at the corner of Oole and Yarra Road. Originally designed for Lace Club 2020 at A Good Yarn, Cleethorpes. The yarn used in the wrap is the sumptuous and silky Fyberspates Scrumptious 4Ply . It is a mix of merino and silk and has the most heavenly drape, which is perfect for a decadent lace wrap. The main sample uses Seafoam and Magenta. The original sample that I made used Pearl and Mulberry for a softer and more traditional colour palette.  The wrap is designed to use different lace techniques but they are only done in small sections that are separated by restful knit and purl. My most favourite part of the shawl is the edging, which uses traditional Estonian stitches t...

Okay, so this is quite a mathy tutorial. I wanted to share this, in a knitting context, because I've found it to be quite useful. There is a calculator at the bottom, so (hopefully) it can do the working out for you. This is something that I’ve researched as I was very unsure that I would have enough yarn to finish a shawl I was working on.  I was able to work out relatively easily how many stitches I needed to complete the shawl and whether I had a enough yarn to work another repeat. I’ve used it quite a few times since then, when yarn quantity was a bit tight; plus, it's very helpful in designing too. Measuring Yarn in Grams/M/Yds Knowing how many stitches is only useful, if you know how much yarn you need to work X number of stitches. There are quite a few ways of working this out. I’ve mentioned one of them before when I working out yarn amounts for intarsia . It’s the same principle here.  In that tutoria...

I know it's been a while. I thought I'd use my blog again but in a different way to before. It definitely won't be a weekly blog [as it once was] but I thought I could share some tutorials and tell you about any pattern releases. Talking of pattern releases... I've been working on a collaboration with Giddy Aunt Yarns and since it's Yarndale this weekend, it's time for a pattern release. This is the beautiful yarn that the lovely gals at Giddy Aunt Yarns gave me. The darker skein is a Mohair Lace in "Pieces of Eight" and the Merino Singles is "Drift". There will be kits of various colours available from this weekend over at Giddy Aunt Yarns , plus they do pre-orders, so you could create your own colour combinations from their catalogue and they'll dye it up for you. Those two skeins turned into Barque; which is name for the old sailing ship of the same name. The two colourways I used had maritime-connected names - Drift and Pieces of Eig...

Been a little silent for awhile, mainly because I've been enjoying sharing through Instagram more plus working at A Good Yarn keeps me pretty busy. Please do come say hi on Instagram. A Good Yarn is moving at the end of this month and the grand re-opening is going to be on Saturday September 2. You're all invited. I've done all the artwork for the logos and the invites and love how they've turned out. I've just released a new pattern for sale on Ravelry. Lapwing  - Buy Now It’s a very versatile shawl pattern, it can be made with any weight yarn and you just keep knitting until it’s the size you want. It's quite a simple design - perfect for TV knitting. There’s details in the pattern for optional beading too. Once you get passed the initial point then it's essentially just a 2 row pattern except for adding in the picots. The picots make blocking on wires super easy as all you need to do is run the wires through them all and you're done. ...

I did get a few nice knitting bits for Christmas, mainly books this year. I'm really loving all of these. From left to right - Botanical Knits 2 by Alana Dakos, New Lace Knitting by Romi Hill, Sock Architecture by Lara Neal and Knitsonik Stranded Colourwork Sourcebook by Felicity Ford. The first two are pattern books and there are some really beautiful ones included. Knitsonik is a self published book that is just gorgeous and really interesting. I've really enjoyed reading this one. The Sock Architecture book is very good and I think my favourite one, since it's the one I've used the most so far. I've started a toe up Dydas with the leftover WYS yarn from my Holly socks. A lot of the patterns have toe up and toe down versions. There are options for different toe lengths and whether you want gussets or not. There's a lot of info and you could easily use the patterns as bases for putting your own patterns onto. Over New Year, I started a st...

Hope everyone has had a lovely Christmas and New Year. I enjoyed mine though glad to be back to some semblance of normality. I’ve got a few projects to share that I gave as Christmas presents. Actually, the first one wasn't a present but I didn’t get around to blogging about it. This one was for me. I started on a weekend away as I thought it would be one of those really easy travelling projects. It was a very simple pattern. I worked it in one colour but I’ve seen some nice multi-coloured versions about. The yarn is Posh Yarn Martha Sock and the pattern is Dotted Rays by Stephen West . There’s something about it that bugs me a bit but you’ll have to spot it for yourself. Here’s my Ravelry Project Page . This little one was a Christmas present for my new godson. I’ve made this one before for another friend and it went down well. I did it in about a week before I had to give them the presents so was a bit rushed. The pattern is a Sirdar o...

I have a new favourite shawl. The pattern is Antipodes by Libby Jonson aka Truly Myrtle . Ravelry project page. Libby has some really lovely patterns – I really like her style and all the patterns all seem very wearable to me. Check them out The pattern was a pleasure to knit from start to finish. It’s worked from point to point, so you just increase until just under half of your yarn has been used then decrease to the point. It’s great for getting the most out of one skein of 4 ply. I used Titus 4 ply in Harvest Gold by Eden Cottage Yarns . Looking at my past blog posts, I bought it at Woolfest all the way back in 2012 . I’d been saving it for just the right project. I’m very happy I used it for this and the colour is just so rich. The skein I used was quite generous at 110g, so I was able to work 29 repeats of the main part of the pattern. I really love this and have been wearing it lots.