Tag Archives: shawl

Inspiration: Spring!

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It’s official!  As of last Thursday, it’s spring!  And here in the PNW, it’s just gorgeous!  (Sorry to those of you in the Great White North still dealing with snow and cold.  You might want to skip this post.  I don’t want to make you jealous.)

The flowers here are just starting to bloom and we’re getting some beautiful warm spring days.  I’m having a great time exploring our new garden (we moved to a new house in the fall) and finding gorgeous spring flowers as they make their appearance.

In honor of these flowers, I thought we could do some spring flower-inspired knitting.

Tiny little snowdrops were the first to bloom:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERASnowdrop Beret by Marya Speton

3440218173_2e11349f2c_z[1]Hellebore are subtle and gorgeous.  They remind me of an old, overgrown forest.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA151-30 Hellebore – Jacket in seed st in Andes and Fabel by DROPS design

30-2_medium2[1]We have a handful of daffodils just starting to open:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERADaffodil by Martin Storey

Daffodil_back_medium2[1]And camellia bushes are covered with fluffy, cheerful flowers:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERACamellia by Meg Myers

6305-cover_medium2[1]Our cherry tree (which I’m sure I will be cursing come fall when I have to clean up all the dropped cherries) is just beautiful and smells even better.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERABaby Cherry Blossom by Sarah Franklin

sweater_baby_cherry_blossom_medium[1]What’s spring look like in your neck of the woods?

Pattern Spotlight: the Pi Shawl

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Happy Pi day!  (In America, anyway March 14th (3/14) is Pi day.)  Let’s celebrate by eating pie and talking about Elizabeth Zimmerman’s super nifty pattern, the Pi Shawl.

This pattern (or un-pattern, since, like most of EZ’s patterns this one is more of a guideline or than written out instructions) is available in several of her books, but it was originally published in the Knitter’s Almanac.  Hey look!  There’s the Pi shawl right on the cover.

Elizabeth-Zimmermann-s-Knitter-s-Almanac-9780486241784The Pi shawl is a circular shawl knit in the round from the center out (so it’s great if you hate casting on.  Less great if you hate binding off).   It’s based on the relationship between circumference and diameter, so that every time you double your rows, you double the number of stitches by working a row of (knit 1, yo) increases.  So, all the shaping happens in only a handful of rows, which means that the rest of the shawl can be used for adding whatever lace, stripes, or whatever else you want.  It’s a great way to play around with new stitch patterns, or to try out a lace stitch that’s been bouncing around in your head.

You can go lacy and delicate with thin lace yarn and openwork designs.

2005150285_6c0618787c_z[1]You can do stripes and simple eyelets.PICT0342_medium2[1]You could even make a cozy round blanket with thick wooly yarn.

photo_1__medium2[1]Happy Pi Day!

Inspiration: Pumpkin Patch

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I spent a wonderful afternoon last Saturday at the local pumpkin patch with my husband and a few of our friends.  We ran through a corn maze, picked out pumpkins and gourds to decorate the house, drank apple cider and ate too many apple doughnuts.  It was absolutely delightful (even if it was a little damp, being the Pacific Northwest and all).  I haven’t gone to a pumpkin patch like that since college, and it was just so fun to do again.

Now that fall is truly in full swing, I’m inspired to break out the autumnal knits:

Pumpkin Patch Socks by Maggie van der Stok

DSC00480_medium2[1]Pumpkin Patch by Anna Richardson

PP_wrapped_full_medium2[1]Autumn Nuts and Berries Hot Water Bottle Cosy by Leila Caroline Design

3602423447_968dc85a79_z[1]Autumnal Mitts by Jo Bangles

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So that’s what you’re working on

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I showed you the sweater I’m working on.  (Which I’m now pretty sure that I have to frog.  My gauge seems to be off more than I thought it was.  I don’t want to undo all that work, so for the time being, my sweater is sitting in time-out. *pout*)

Anyhoo, it looks like you guys are having much more success in the knitting department than I am.

My mom (Hi Mom!) is making a pretty snazzy pair of socks from yarn that she dyed herself using food coloring.  Beautiful! (That shade of robin’s-egg blue is one of my favorite colors.)

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And, she’s making a whole pile of granny squares.  I love me some granny squares.  They’re one of my favorite things to do when I don’t have any specific project in mind, or a pile of little yarn bits to use up.  (I was digging through my stash the other day, and found that I have approximately 5 gallons of balls of worsted weight yarns.  And no more than a half-skein of any one color.  I might have to make another super-ugly…er… I mean eclectic blanket.  Mom’s squares are much better color-coordinated.)

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAMy friend Jenny had some free time to finish up her gorgeous crocheted shawl.  We play board games once a week, and she brings her crochet and I bring my knitting.  It’s awesome to see her shawl finished up so nicely!photo[1]

I’m turning 50!

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Actually, I’m not turning 50… not even close.  But this is my 50th post!  How exciting!

It seems like I just started this blog yesterday.  Is it too early for me to repost some of my earlier posts?  Probably, but I’ll do it anyway.

My first pattern, the Lace-Edged Shawl, is still by far my most favorited/knit pattern.  Here’s the link to Ravelry.

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People also seem to like my Call the Midwife posts (but that’s probably due more to the show being awesome, than me writing anything particularly genius).

blanket 2

 

People also seem to like my Call the Midwife posts (but that’s probably due more to the show being awesome, than me writing anything particularly genius).

 

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Although, my most liked post so far was my critique of Clueless:

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But despite all those, I think the series of posts I’m most proud of (wether or not you guys are into them, I’m not so sure), is my Sock Week posts.

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So, thanks for reading!  And here’s to 50 more posts.

Lace-Edged Shawl

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Well, now you have this pile of beautiful stitch markers, what to do with them?  How about making a really cool lacey shawl?  I realize the “shawl” word is kind of old-lady-y, but whatever.  They’re basically just triangular scarves, so what’s not to like?

I’m using Blue Moon Marine Silk Worsted yarn , but you can use whatever you want.  I think this shawl looks best in a heavy, drapey yarn, but feel free to use whatever you want.  I am always prepared to be wrong. My shawl is quite small, just big enough to go around my neck and tuck into the collar of my coat.  If you want a bigger shawl, repeat rows 2 and 3 of the shawl body until you have 200, 224, or 248 stitches, and increase the number of times you work the lace pattern.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Materials:

1 skein Blue Moon Marine Silk Worsted (243 yards) or whatever the heck you feel like using.

Size 8 needles (or so.  It’s not like a sweater or something, so there is plenty of leeway regarding gauge)

4 stitch markers

Scissors, tapestry needle

Abbreviations:

k3tog-knit three together

pm-place marker

yo-yarn over

Instructions:

Make the body of the shawl:

CO. 8

  1. k2, pm, k1, place marker, k2, pm, k1, place marker, k2
  2. k2, *pm, yo, k to next marker, yo, pm, k2, repeat from *
  3. k2, *pm, purl to next marker, pm, k2, repeat from *

Repeat rows 2 and 3 until you have 176 stitches on your needles, finishing with row 3

Begin lace pattern:

  1. k2, *pm, yo, (k1, yo, k4, k3tog, k4, yo) 7 times, k1, yo, pm, k2.  Repeat from *
  2. k2, *pm, purl to next marker, pm, k2.  Repeat from *
  3. k2, *pm, yo, k1 (k2, yo, k3, k3tog, k3, yo, k1) 7 times, k2, yo, pm, k2.  Repeat from *
  4. k2, *pm, purl to next marker, pm, k2.  Repeat from *
  5. k2, *pm, yo, k2 (k3, yo, k2, k3tog, k2, yo, k2) 7 times, k3, yo, pm, k2.  Repeat from *
  6. k2, *pm, purl to next marker, pm, k2.  Repeat from *
  7. k2, *pm, yo, k3 (k4, yo, k1, k3tog, k1, yo, k3) 7 times, k4, yo, pm, k2.  Repeat from *
  8. k2, *pm, purl to next marker, pm, k2.  Repeat from *
  9. k2, *pm, yo, k4 (k5, yo, k3tog, yo, k4) 7 times, k5, yo, pm, k2.  Repeat from *
  10. k2, *pm, purl to next marker, pm, k2.  Repeat from *
  11. k2, *pm, yo, k4 (k3tog, k4, yo, k1, yo, k4) 7 times, k3tog, k4, yo, pm, k2.  Repeat from *
  12. k2, *pm, purl to next marker, pm, k2.  Repeat from *OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Repeat rows 11 and 12 until you’re bored, you run out of yarn, or both.  I repeated them 6 times for my shawl.

When you’re finished, bind off loosely, removing the stitch markers as you go.  If you feel so inclined, block your shawl by soaking it in warm water, and pinning it out flat to dry.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Get the PDF here: Lace Edged Shawl-Updated

Edit:  Originally, I had included LLD and RLD in the Abbreviations list.  This was a mistake-there was never any LLD or RLD’s in the pattern. I have removed them from the abbreviations list.  Happy knitting!

Inspiration: Downton Abbey

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I hate Downton Abbey.  Also, I love Downton Abbey.  It’s so awful and so great.  I know you guys are totally into it too.  It’s such a soap opera, but they have fancy British accents and it’s on PBS, so it makes you think that you’re watching something smart.  And then you get all attached to the characters, and then BAM! Spanish flu.  BAM! Eclampsia.  BAM! Car accident.  It messes with my brain.

The one real problem I have with the show, however, is its lack of hand knits.  For real!  The costumes are all so gorgeous and richly textured and (one assumes) historically accurate.  How can there be no knitting?   Maybe knitting was out of vogue with the richie-rich of the early 20th century.

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Even if the Grantham sisters don’t really wear any knitting, you can still make some Downton-inspired knitting projects:

Aeolian Shawl by Elizabeth Freeman

Annis by Susanna IC

Old Town by Carol Sunday