In The Pink Shawl

This year I decided would be the year of the shawls. My first shawl that I started and completed was the “In The Pink Shawl” made out of Noro Sekku yarn which I believe is now discontinues (although I have been online and ordered a couple of skeins before they disappear). The yarn is very thick and thin but adds a lot of texture to the lace pattern which I really like, after all, all of the yarn I have handspun is thick and thin so I am in good company.

As you can tell the shawl is like a pair of wings (even though my blocking needs some practice). It is knitted in 3 separate pieces and then knitted together via the little netted triangles. The border is then knitted on picking up one stitch of the shawl as you go.

I have had lots of lovely comments about this shawl on Facebook and it will soon be up in Etsy in the next few days once I have gotten round to measuring it.

This shawl is definitely one of my all time favourite knits, but I don’t think I will be knitting another one anytime soon as the pattern is very challenging and did cause me a few headaches.

Shawl Knitting in 2011

In 2011 I successfully knitted 5 shawls. 2 were large, 2 were medium and 1 was small. All of them consisted of lace and they ranged from very fine lace weight yarn to the more heavier DK weight yarn.

This first shawl was knitted in DK weight yarn and is one of the medium shawls. The yarn was rather scratchy to use as it had a fine strand of glittery nylon running through it.

This is the second medium shawl which was knitted in a gorgeous soft DK yarn with sequins placed throughout the yarn which added that extra bit of glam to the shawl.

This is the first of the large shawls which was knitted in yarn made of sugar cane. The yarn knitted up just like cotton but felt softer. The shawl is very large as it begins at one end quite narrow, then gets wider in the middle before going narrow again. I knitted some beads into this shawl to add a bit more texture and interest.

This is the second large shawl and is circular made out of very fine lace weight yarn which I had on a cone from many moons ago that I found in my machine knitting yarn stash. It took me an age to knit up as it was knitted using tiny needles and of course every few rows the stitches doubled until it was very large. It is definitely something I would class as an heirloom shawl.

The final shawl is the smallest of the 5 and is again knitted using fine lace weight yarn. This shawl also tool me a very long time to knit as again it was knitted using tiny needles. This shawl could be used as a type of cowl or scarf as the size is ideal to use with the base of the triangle at the front “v” of your coat and then wrap the ends around the back of your neck and back to the front.

The majority of these shawls are available in my Etsy shop or via the link to my shop at the left hand side of this post.

Machine Knitted Lace Shawls

Sorry for going MIA, but the miscarriage I had a week ago hit me really hard…You would have thought that since it was my 11th that I would have coped with it better, but alas I didn’t…

Anyway, I am beginning to feel a bit better so thought I would put up a quick post on machine knitted lace shawls…

Last year my cousin was the proud father of twins, a boy and a girl…as it happened I had a blue lace shawl in my Etsy shop but needed a pink one to go with it…SOOOO…I cast on and after struggling for a few days with dropped stitches, yarn snapping etc etc…I chose a different cone of yarn and cast on again…yet again I had no luck, so I managed to persuade my hubby to do the pushing of the carriages for me and I did the cast off, fringing etc….

I think it came out really pretty….what do you think??

My cousin loved the shawls so much his mother-in-law requested one for her friend’s baby…..As it was Christmas we agreed that I would make if in the New Year…

Back in February I got round to it (the baby wasn’t due until the beginning of April) and you guessed it, the same thing happened again….the yarn kept snapping, stitches kept dropping…again I asked my hubby to have a go for me and the same thing happened…

This time I didn’t have any other white yarn which was suitable and the cone I was using wasn’t that old…so we decided to change the stitch pattern…After it acting up again I persuaded hubby to have a go…You guessed it, it worked for him…So once it was finished I cast it off, sewed the ends in, sorted out the couple of dropped stitches and fringed it…

I love the stitch pattern used in this shawl….it is much better than the prior shawls I had made and it was so light and airy…a perfect baby shawl..What do you think??

My cousin’s mother-in-law loved it and I am sooo glad that I have no more machine knitted lace shawls to knit…

Finally Some Knitting News!!!

I have finally completed the Baby Backwards Rib Socks which I was knitting as part of the July KAL for the Thrifty Knitter’s Sock Club.

I was quite pleased with them and think they came out rather well and they even fit perfectly.

I have also found the time and courage to knit clue 2 of the Goddessknits Anniversary Mystery Shawl KAL. I was terrified as the yarn is no fine and you have to really concentrate whilst knitting on it. If you get interrupted you are well and truly snookered.

I think I am finally getting used to the lace charts but am still getting the large holes between the start and end of the round.

I am really hoping that when I finally finish and block it that it will sort itself out (keep your fingers crossed for me). As I have had bad migraines all week I have not worked on it, but am hoping to start on clue 3 this week as the Goddessknits Mystery Shawl 9 has started and I haven’t even cast on for that one yet as I want to complete this one first.

I have decided that the problem I was having on not wanting to knit on the Stitchdiva Bellocq thigh high stockings is that the circular needles I was using were too big and I was struggling to knit in the round, so have sent off for some smaller Addi Circular Needles which will hopefully give me the confidence to complete them.

I have been doing some mindless knitting on the “Art of Knitting” Drying Jacket which is plain stockinette stitch. It is really boring, but is about the only thing I can knit on with these migraines.

On Friday I plucked up the courage to cast on for the August Thrifty Knitters Sock KAL which means I am knitting the dreaded Bellatrix socks from Socktopia. I was dreading these socks but now that I have begun them they are going really quickly. I am already at the home straight of knitting the foot as they were started from the cuff down.

Well, that is about it for now, my next post will be about knitting dvd’s which I will hopefully get out mid-week. I hope you have enjoyed reading this post on knitting as I know it has been more of a life in general blog recently due to my ill health, sorrrrrryyyyyyyy!!!

KAL’s Update

The past couple of days I have been busy concentrating on getting the first clue’s completed for the KAL’s I am taking part in.

The first KAL was the “Goddess Knits Anniversary Mystery Shawl KAL” and I chose chart C.

I am quite happy with the results (it took me many hours of unravelling and starting again to get it completed). The only part I am not happy with is where the joins are between the dpn’s (double pointed needles). I am really hoping I will be able to sort it out once the shawl is completed and blocked as I am now onto circular needles.

The second KAL is the “Goddess Knits Mystery Sock KAL” and again I completed clue 1. You can’t really see the cable pattern and I have only knitted an inch for the leg as I am unsure what Clue 2 is, so will knit some more on the leg if needs be once I find out what clue 2 is as it told you to knit 1 inch or upto desired length!!

One of the other KAL’s I joined was the “One Skein KAL” and I successfully completed the needle case and am really pleased with it. On the pattern it stated that you needed 2 50g balls, but it came out under one 50g ball, so I could’ve used one of the many part used balls I had rather than having to open a brand new ball.

Once I have completed clue 2 of the Goddess Knits KAL’s I will post pictures and will of course let you know how I get on with them!!