Two Hats for Toddlers

This year I decided not to knit any Christmas gifts. It was such a relief to remove that pressure from myself. However, just because I wasn't knitting Christmas gifts, did not mean my niece and nephew had to go without a handknit hat for Winter. The hat for my nephew was easy. I have a few skeins of Cascade 220 Superwash in my stash. It's my go to yarn for kid friendly projects as it is both machine washable and can be tumble dried (which, apparently, is VERY important as kids generate an awful lot of washing and having to dry stuff flat in Winter in a smallish house is not fun). I picked out a good colour for my nephew, a strong blue colour, In The Navy (885).

I knew this would be a good colour on him as we have similar colouring. I decided to go for a simple hat pattern that I've heard people rave about since it came out, Barley by Tin Can Knits. This is a free pattern and it is simple, but has enough to keep it interesting. I think it really shows off variegated and handspun yarns brilliantly, even though I didn't use either. It is a very good pattern for a beginner knitter as it is full of clear instructions and links to tutorials for every stage of the pattern.

One thing I did differently, was to use the Alternate Cable Cast On, as I think this method looks great for ribbed cast ons, especially with hats. Other than that change I knit the hat precisely as written and it whizzed off my needles. I blocked the hat on a balloon and I think it really neatened up the stitches and gave it good shape.

I wish I had a photo of him wearing his hat, because it looks adorable on him. It has a loose slouchy fit and he loves the hat. When he put it on for the first time, this little fashionista (he's not yet two) was admiring himself in the mirror, which tickled me no end. As the pattern goes all the way up to men's sizes I think he's going to be getting many more of these hats in the future, and I plan on making myself one too.

For his sister I was informed that pink was pretty much the only colour she was interested in. As some of you might know I'm very anti-pink for small girls as it seems to be the only colour available for them. However, as I love my niece very much and would like my knitwear to be used, I went in hunt of a pink that she would wear and I could tolerate. I found the answer in Petal 122 in MillaMia Naturally Soft Merino. It's a very delicate pink and not too candy floss for my tastes. I also decided to add a contrast to the pretty pink, by adding a hot pink, Fuchsia 143, to the mix. This also served the purpose of bumping up the yarn yardage I had available just in case I needed more than one skein. This yarn is machine washable, though it can't be tumble dried. When the yarn arrived I was pretty happy with my choices, as it often hard to make a colour judgement online.

This is a sport weight yarn, and I luckily I had found a suitable pattern in my library, Alternato by Woolly Wormhead, from the book, Classic Woolly Toppers. This time the Alternate Cable Cast On was written into the pattern and it was Woolly Wormhead's tutorial that introduced me to the technique, some time last year, and since then I've used it in all ribbed cast ons.

The ribbing on this hat is twisted and this really pops in this yarn. After the ribbing I changed colour to the lighter pink, and still on the smaller needles, used for the ribbing, I knit one round. I then did the increases at the end of the ribbing, back in written pattern, and changed to the larger needles. This hid the colour change really well.

I knit the main body of the hat inside out to make the reversed stocking stitch a bit more even, as my knitting is much neater than my purling. I think it worked out well.

Once again, I blocked the hat on a balloon. This hat needed blocking much more than the one for my nephew. The decreases on the crown really needed evening up, as they were performed quite rapidly to make the slouch puff out.

Again, I don't have a picture of this hat being worn, but I can assure you that my niece looks fabulous in it, and, though I hate to admit it, the soft pink colour looks really good on her. As this hat pattern is also written in multiple sizes I may make her this hat again, as it is a fun knit. I may also make one for myself at some point, as I think it would look great in handspun yarn.

As these hats worked out well, I think I can see myself making more for the kids in the future. I really want to encourage their growing love of all things woolly.

Manteau: A Knitter's Poncho

As I have been playing catch up on my projects, it's quite nice to be able to say what I really like or dislike about a project once it's been finished and used. Sometimes the projects you enjoy knitting the most, aren't necessarily the ones that you use the most and vice versa. I suppose this is where being a product vs a process knitter comes into play. I have decided over the last few years that I am both a product and process knitter. I love having all sorts of projects on the needles at any one time. I have mindless easy projects and complex and challenging ones. Some projects have that magical balance of product and process that make them fly off the needles and into your wardrobe. This project is one of those.

In October, Tangled Yarn had a great discount on their stock of Malabrigo Worsted yarn. I love Malabrigo, and saw my opportunity to get hold of a reasonable amount of this yarn and actually use it for something other than a hat or cowl. Normally a garment's worth of this yarn is well outside my yarn budget. This discount was so good I was able to buy 5 skeins of the SFO Sky colourway. A wonderfully interesting variegated colourway, that my other half calls Winter Camo!

This was one of those incredibly rare occasions where I planned the project before I hit the Pay Now button. I found the colourway I liked in a reasonable quantity and spent a few hours researching Ravelry for the right pattern. When I saw the Manteau: A Knitter's Poncho by Shannon Squire, I knew I had found the right match. Once I knew the yarn requirements I took a gulp and paid for my skeins. They were worth every penny!

This colourway works brilliantly in a simple stocking stitch pattern, which most of this project is made up of. I loved the little props of dark and light as I knit each row and the yarn, is of course, a dream to knit with. I loved every mindless stitch of this garment. It was comfort knitting on a grand scale. I did alternate the skeins though to make sure there was little pooling of colours and I think it worked well.

In addition to the miles of stocking stitch there was some nice slipped stitch work on the collar and the hem, which livened the project up and added a fun detail to the poncho. It also added a little bit of extra firmness to the fabric where it was done. I happen to like the reverse of this slipped stitch pattern, which is just as well, as the collar is often left open and it folds over to show the wrong side of the fabric.

The collar sits so nicely when it is left open. It breaks up the smooth expanse that covers my ample bosom. I normally don't like high rounded neck garments because it makes my bust look bigger than it is. This pattern breaks up the depth of the bust when the collar is worn open and it is much more flattering than when it is closed, in the same way that a v-neck garment would. However, if I'm cold enough to wear the neck closed, I really don't care very much about how flattering it is!

When the collar is closed, it shows off these lovely buttons I bought. I bought them online from Textile Garden. They are hammered aluminium and they are quite heavy. I might not have bought them if I'd seen them in person but they have actually worked out really well, and I love how they look. If I'm wearing the collar closed, the buttons tinkle when I move. It's like wearing small bells!

The shaping of the poncho is clever. The the way the increases on the raglans are performed means that the poncho does not flare out massively once it is past the shoulders. I means that the sides of the poncho pull in a bit where the arms are and keeps the heat trapped inside even when you raise your arms.

The poncho ends at the hips, which I thought would annoy me, and leave me with a cold back, if I wore the poncho as a jacket, and I wanted to extend the length a bit, but didn't really have enough yarn to do so. After wearing the poncho for a while, however, I really like the length. I did wear the garment as a jacket in the Autumn, but I usually wore a fleece underneath, that fit snugly and gave me an extra layer around my lower back and that meant I was fine outside. Inside, I wear it a lot on cold mornings as the house warms up. It's great for sitting on the couch with as I don't sit on the hem when I sit down, because of it's length. It also doesn't scrunch up on my lap when I sit down, which is good.

Essentially I love this poncho and wear it all the time. It is warm and cosy and I like that it looks different from all the ponchos and capes you see available on the high street. I was worth taking the time before buying the yarn to find a great pattern. It's not surprising that from when I ordered the yarn to wearing the finished garment, took less than 4 weeks. That has to be a record for me! Normally yarn has to marinate for months in my stash before it reveals what it wants to be.

I really do recommend both the yarn and the pattern, especially when put together. I do hope that there are more skeins of Malabrigo Worsted yarn on sale in the future, it really is lovely stuff. Maybe next time I can save up enough to buy a enough for a sweater!

Sierra Sunset Cowl in Silk

In November 2010 I bought a bargain of a skein of yarn at the Harrogate Knitting and Stitching Show. It was a delicious skein of 200m of DK weight silk singles yarn in an antique rose colour. It was from (the then new) Artisan Yarns. There doesn't seem to be any products on their ETSY shop and I don't know if that is a permanent situation but they do have stock in at Loop Knitting, so their yarn is still available somewhere.

This particular skein has been burning a hole in my stash for a while. I love the yarn and the colour is so pretty, but when I had bright red hair it didn't suit me. I decided that I would offer the resulting item to my Mum as she loves this particular shade. After making that decision I found a pattern fairly quickly, Sierra Sunset Cowl by Kristen Ashbaugh-Helmreich.

Over the last few years I have become a big fan of cowls. They stay where they are put, around your neck, and the ends don't dangle in your drink. This pattern seemed a perfect use of this gorgeous yarn. The pattern sample was knit in a wool/silk blend which meant that a drapey yarn would work well.

This cowl is a clever construction. As the cowl sits reasonably snugly around the throat the designer has created a knit flat pattern that features a button fastening at the narrow part that sits at the back of the neck. This means if you don't want to pull the snug cowl over your head you can undo and refasten the buttons.

I am fairly sure that I bought these buttons at either the same Harrogate Show or at another similar event. I got them from The Button Lady who has a stall at most big crafting events, in the UK, and there is always a crowd at her booth, because she sells such amazing buttons. These abalone shell buttons are very versatile, which is why I bought them for my button jar, as the iridescent qualities allow them to match several different colours. In this case the buttons pick up the pink from the shawl. The buttons could not have been chosen better as they fit the button holes perfectly. The buttons also help make the cowl almost like jewellery.

This simple project, involves a small amount of short row shaping and a very simple lace pattern, so it would be a good project for people wanting to practice those techniques. If you are a confident knitter, the project takes no time at all, I think I finished it in 2 days. The only downside to the pattern was the large quantities of pins I had to use to block it as the curved edges did not suit a wire blocking.

Of course once I finished my project and tried it on for photography purposes, I realised that this colour now really suits me and I would love wearing it. However, I was a good daughter and handed it over to my Mum, because I had already offered it to her. So, if this project has taught me one thing, it is to never promise away a project until you know whether you are going to fall in love with it or not! I may have to knit another one, this time for me!

Rikke Hat - Take 2

I have loved the Rikke Hat pattern by Sarah Young since I first saw it, probably on The Fat Squirrel Speaks podcast. I even knit it in July 2014, but sadly it wasn't the right yarn match for the project, so I ripped it out and waited for the right yarn to come along.

Then at the end of August I ordered a skein of Semi-Precious in Granite from Babylonglegs, one of my favourite dyers (she's currently on hiatus but will be coming back). Sarah got in touch a day later and said she couldn't find the skein and was it ok if she dyed up a new batch and sent that when it was done. I agreed quite happily, as I had no deadline project in mind for the yarn (in fact, it's still not knit up). Then a few minutes later, I had a brainwave. I thought if Sarah was preparing a grey dye bath this would be a great opportunity to try out her lovely MesMerino base (Superwash Merino DK), which I knew would be perfect for the Rikke pattern. I got back to her and she was more than happy to throw a skein of MesMerino in with the Semi-Precious.

I wanted to do a grey Rikke hat because I have a dark grey, full length woollen Winter coat. I knew the hat would go with any of my scarves/shawls and mittens/gloves, as grey is my favourite neutral. Within a month, I'd cast on the hat.

I struggled to get gauge on the first version of this hat. I decided to push down the needle size for the brim even further and use a 3.25mm needle, but leave the main body of the hat knit on 4mm. The resulting hat is very, very slouchy.

However, because the knit fabric is more robust than the first version, it sits much better.

It hugs the nape of my neck so nicely and it feels soft and squishy around my head.

The back of the hat has very quick decreases and is then pulled tight with yarn threaded through the final stitches. I like the shape it makes at the back of hat.

The yarn really is perfect for this project and I know I want to knit in this lovely yarn again.

It's got great stitch definition and I know it would great used for cables, or just plain stocking stitch or the garter stitch I used in the hat. I really want to knit a garment in this. I also want to knit another Rikke hat, but this time in a variegated yarn. I have seen lots of versions knit in variegated yarn and it looks wonderful. The only skein I have that may work is Unwind Yarn Company Touring DK in Gracie Pearl.

Though this yarn is gorgeous, part of me wants to use some handspun yarn instead, as I think a handspun rikke hat with be wonderful too. Funnily enough, the most suitable handspun is in merino/silk in a one of a kind colourway from Unwind Yarn Company.

I think this may probably be an ideal match, it certainly has enough bounce. What would you use?

Shaped Capelet with Braided Cables

Sometimes when I see a pattern in a magazine it just drifts past my eyes as I acknowledge it's beauty, but unsuitability for my life. Other times I see a pattern and it sticks in my brain. It might not be suitable for my life but I just itch to own that garment or accessory. If it's not suitable, I generally let it go but remember it's qualities. Then we have the patterns that I MUST make one day. They sticksin my brain and refuse to leave. This is what happened with the cover photo from the very first edition of knit.wear Magazine, that came out in 2011. The Shaped Capelet with Braided Cables by Erica Patberg captured me and the image stuck with me in my subconscious until Deramores brought out a bulky range of yarn, Vintage Chunky.

Deramore Vintage Chunky is made of 50% merino and 50% acrylic and it's real bargain. There was also a discount when it came out in Autumn 2013. With that discount and seeing that the yarn came in a very close colour match to the original cover shot of this lovely pattern, made me feel like it was meant to be. The yarn marinaded for a while and then I cast on in January 2014.

The capelet is knit sideways, starting from a provisional cast on. The chunky cables were a sheer delight to knit. I love the fabric that large cables make, especially when they are right next to each other. This dense area of cables sits at the front of the capelet. Then increases are placed between the cables to create a deeper capelet to sit at the back of the body. There is a large section of straight forward cabling with no increases as it passes around the body, before decreasing between the cables again.

Then came the fun part of grafting those cables. Yes I had to do it more than once and yes there was swearing. I may have improved with my grafting over the last few years, but I don't think I'll ever be comfortable with grafting cables or lace. After my first failed attempt I took some time to count stitches and add stitch markers every so often on both sides of the graft. This meant I could ensure that the stitches were lined up as I went, rather than getting to the end to discover I'd gone awry somewhere. After grafting the capelet I just stopped. I put the capelet away and sulked because my lovely project obviously hated me.

I didn't pick up the project until #WIPCrackAway happened, with the KnitBritish and Yarns From The Plain podcasts. This push towards getting some works in progress finished up, reminded me that I had this lovely capelet waiting to be finished, and all it needed was a band of ribbing!

So picked up the stitches along the top edge of the capelet and ribbed for a couple of days and then it was finished. I can't believe it took me so long, to get around to this project.

The capelet is a wonderful accessory and I have worn it a lot this Autumn and Winter. I love how it embraces you and keeps you snug whilst still giving you room to breathe.

I haven't overheated once in this capelet. I do love it when an idealised image from a magazine, may not be completely duplicated, because of finances and lack of a professional photographer, but the project created is both lovely and useful.

On top of the wonderful capelet that I got, I also won a prize from Louise of KnitBritish for my entries in #WIPCrackaway! A skein of Superwash BFL Sock Yarn from Ripples Crafts.

I love Blue Face Leicester sock yarn. It's wonderful stuff and make your feet feel cosseted. I can't wait to make this into socks. Basically though this project took a long time, from initial attraction to finished article, it really was a triumph all round. I also have two skeins of my Deramores Vintage Chunky left. I'm very tempted to make some warm and squishy mittens to match my capelet!

Vedbaeck Shawl

I am still trying to catch up with finished objects from the back section of last year, so if you follow me on Instagram of watch the podcast you will have this FO and I apologise profusely for the delay in giving you some details.

I decided to knit the Vedbaeck Shawl by Karie Westermann almost as soon as the pattern came out. I put it in my favourites and then promptly got distracted. Then I was inspired by Sarah and Morgan on the FiberTrek podcast. They both knit one and they looked so warm and snuggly I had to join in with their Serendipitous Vedbaeck KAL. I looked at my stash and decided that I wanted to knit the shawl in some long treasured yarn. I got this yarn in November 2010! My sister-in-law offered to get it for me at the Harrogate Knitting and Stitching Show, for Christmas, and I leapt at the chance. The yarn is Jamieson's Shetland Spindrift and I got 8 x 25g skeins, divided into 4 colours; Caspian, Mermaid, Peacock and Nighthawk. Spindrift is a 4-ply or fingering weight yarn and it's a woollen spun yarn.

I'd struggled to find the right project for this yarn and this shawl seemed a perfect match. As there were long sections of fairly simple knitting, the colour changes would become a feature rather than a distraction.

To stop the colour changes being too harsh and jarring I alternated 2 row stripes, three times, at the change over of the colours which helped ease in the changes.

This shawl is a lovely simple thing that allows your mind to wander, once you have the pattern set into your mind (which doesn't take too long).

It is also really simple to change the size of the shawl. This meant I could use up as much of my yarn as I liked. I wish I'd been able to use a bit more of my final skein but I wasn't sure how much the border stitches would use up.

I think I could have added in another repeat of the shawl body pattern, but I wasn't sure and I couldn't face ripping back if I was wrong. Besides, my shawl is a great size for me.

It's a wonderfully warm and woolly shawl that wraps me up in a fabulously cosy way.

The shawl ends right at my elbow, which means it won't get in my way. It also works well as a big swoopy shawl/scarf over my Winter coat. Now THAT is cosy. Spindrift is a wonderful robust yarn that is hard wearing but softens over time. After washing the shawl and wearing it for a while, I can't feel any prickle at all. This shawl will last for years, but if I'd done it in merino, whilst it would have been gloriously soft, it would have started pilling the first time it was worn.

I would happily knit this shawl again, as it was a very enjoyable experience. I might even be tempted to try the yarn that the pattern suggests, Snaelden 3-Ply. That yarn is blended from Faroese and Falkland fleeces to get the best of both worlds, softness with strength. I am very tempted by that combination!

Reasons for Changing The Way I Craft

I have read so many posts from my fellow bloggers revolving around "2015 Intentions/Resolutions" that I really didn't want to do my own post on this. I know you don't care what I intend to do this year, provided I talk about it and take pretty pictures. I also don't like tying myself to something at the start of the year, because I know I have a lousy track record of keeping up with goals. I could blame my health but I know it's not only that, I just have terrible self control.

One thing I've learnt about my lack of self control is that if I make a big pronouncement about what I'm going to do, I set myself up for failure. What I have to do is make a continuing set of decisions that behave in a certain way. I can't stick to a decision made months ago as though it is written in stone, because it isn't. What I have to do is think about the reasons I want to do something and keep remembering those reasons, every time I make a decision regarding it. It's hard to do, when you don't set it down somewhere, and think it all the way through, so I'm going to do it here. Sorry, you can all go now, this post is for me, not you ;-)

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Stash

My stash is pretty huge. I reached SABLE (Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy) a long time ago. Most things in my stash are things I love and really want to knit with. The Random Rummage CAL really helped me look at my stash again and it has already made me reach for more of my older stash. I want to continue using this lovely yarn. There are several things I have thought about to help me do this:

1. Stop being precious about my stash. It was bought to be used. USE IT!!!!
2. If I don't love an item anymore, mark it up for destash.
3. If I fall in love with a new pattern and I have stash that could use with this pattern, use the yarn in stash. Just because I have mentally matched it with a pattern does not mean I need to buy more yarn. If I haven't knit that pattern in the last 3 years with the yarn I bought, I'm probably not going to do so, any time soon. Use the yarn I have and knit the nice new pattern, OR, knit the original pattern with the yarn I have, THEN buy new yarn.
4. Set a reasonable budget each month to spend on craft - yarn, fibre, books, tools and stick to it. If I have a financial restriction I will think much harder about the things I buy and why I'm buying them.
5. Before hitting the "Pay Now" button, check the stash to see if there is anything already there that is remotely like it and ask myself "why are you buying this?" If I haven't used the yarn in stash yet, do I really need more like it, or I am having an"eyes bigger than my knitting needles" moment?

Blogging

I've already covered this in a previous post, I want to try and carry on with the way I laid things out, despite my missing presence over the end of December (if you haven't guessed already, I've had a hideous virus, as has, seemingly, everyone I know!).

Podcasting

I want to stop beating myself up whenever I think I miss a recording date. I have always said I won't record on a regular basis. I don't get paid to podcast, I do it because I enjoy it. Beating myself up about not recording, means I'm not having fun and, therefore, it is counteracting any enjoyment I actually do get from recording.

Projects

I want to work on things to go in my newly created "Gift Box". I've created a thread on the Ravelry Group about this idea, and set up a Page to gain inspiration. This Christmas I did NO gift crafting. It was lovely to have some breathing space this year but I missed giving hand crafted gifts. I have decided that deadline knitting is not for me, I hate it. I'm going to create a Gift Box (even if it's a mental one) and put completed projects in it for using for gifts on birthdays, at Christmas or as other random things occur. If I want to knit something that I know I won't use, but I have yarn in stash, I will go ahead and knit it, enjoy the knitting and then put it to one side to give to someone who will use it.

I want to use my handspun yarn more often. I'm going to try and find patterns that can be used with handspun yarn and match it up with what I have already in stash. Then I'm going to try and have one handspun project on the needles most of the time.

I want to start knitting more clothing. I have many sweater quantities of yarn in my stash, I need to use them. I need to make something for the size I currently am, and wear it now. If I change size (either up or down) I can always give the ill-fitted garment away, or even frog it and recycle the yarn. I need to remember that yarn is a very forgiving material that stretches and drapes.

As well as knitting socks, knit some mitts with existing sock yarn. It's a very similar style of knitting, that I can easily do whilst chatting or reading.

If I fall in love with a new pattern, and I have the yarn, I want to queue it and match the yarn and pattern in the queue.

I want to knit things in my queue, especially if it's been matched up with existing stash ;-)

I want to spin bigger quantities of yarn, so I can knit bigger projects with my handspun.

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Wow, what an awful lot of reasons for changing things up. I wonder if any of those reasons will stick in my head. I must bookmark this post and re-read it every week. Maybe it will stick in my head if I repeat it often enough.

If you've read this, I'm impressed! Thanks for sticking with me, please remind me when you sense me going off track with these reasons. I do really want to make all of these changes, but I'll be happy if I can manage one!

Pebble Beach Shawlette in Kettle Yarns Co Islington

When I went to Fibre East in the Summer (doesn't that seem like forever ago?) the very first purchase I made was from Kettle Yarns Co. I intended to buy yarn to make Pebble Beach Shawlette by Helen Stewart of Curious Handmade and wanted to get the recommended yarn Westminster. However, I fell in love with a skein of Islington instead.

This skein is 400m of 55% Blue Faced Leicester (BFL) and 45% Silk in the colourway Old Smoke. It is glorious yarn and I decided it would still work wonderfully with Helen's pattern. I actually cast this project on fairly soon after blogging about the event and I can't believe I haven't shown you the results of this knitting endeavour. I think I might have been waiting to take "good" photos, but as I decided to stop waiting for that to happen I will share the "not so good" photos of the project. It should give you a good idea of how lovely the yarn is and how good the pattern is.

The pattern, like all of Helen's, is excellent. Everything is laid out clearly and explained carefully. There is a checkbox system where you can mark off what you have knit and it tells you have far you have come in your shawl knitting (I love that Helen does that).

The knitting was a fun and enjoyable experience, but before I go started the yarn didn't play ball. It was a NIGHTMARE to wind. It took hours to wind this one skein of yarn. It wasn't secured very well and it had managed to get all knotted up. I may have had a little moan on Twitter about this, and found several other people had the same experience I was having. The yarn is worth all the untangling, however, it would have been much better if I'd not had to spend and entire afternoon on the job.

You can see how beautiful the yarn is in the above photo. It has an amazing sheen to it. It also drapes incredibly well.

It is so soft to the touch I would normally fear that pilling would be instant, but as I've worn this time and again, since it was finished in September, there has been no sign of wear. I think this is down to the multiple plies and the BFL content, which is a strong and pill resistant fibre, that is also soft and silky to the touch.

I loved knitting this shawl. I loved the process from the moment I cast on. I have worn it a lot. It's a great neutral colour and it has definitely made me think about getting more neutral knits in my wardrobe, as they are so versatile.

It really does go with everything. It is soft and warm around my neck and the eyelets make the yarn stretch to a decent size, so that it covers some of my lower cut tops. The shawlette feels and looks dressy, but it is casual enough to wear every day.

I really am delighted with this project. I will probably make another version of this pattern, but maybe that one will be in a less neutral colour.

Cool Clavicle Cover

Since starting to listen to, and watch podcasts, I have been exposed to a new section of the knitting pattern design community. I think podcasters are led to design in the same way that bloggers are. They tell their audience about something they have designed for themselves and people start asking if they are going to release it as a pattern. The next thing they know, they are a designer! Megan Williams is such a podcaster, part of the Stockinette Zombies duo, Amy Spinler being the other part. In July, Megan released a new shawlette pattern, Cool Clavicle Cover. It looked like something I would enjoy knitting and it was one of my favourite shapes, an elongated semi-circle.

A few months later, I pulled out this skein of SweetGeorgia Tough Love Sock in the Tea Party colourway and started working on the shawlette. This was the first time I have used this particular yarn and it is very smooth and soft. It felt amazing next to the skin and I couldn't bring myself to put it on my feet, despite knowing it was more than tough enough to stand up to being socks.

The cast on and top edge of this shawl is really unusual and very imaginative. This method of cast on and top edge seem to remove the problem of a top edge bulge that sometimes occurs with this shape of shawl. It creates a soft and smooth top edge, which you sometimes don't get with a garter stitch top edge.

There are several sections of the shawl, done in the same stitch pattern, that breaks up any pooling or flashing you might get with a hand dyed variegated yarn. The main sections are divided with an interesting "chain stitch" that I'd not seen before. These sections help break up your knitting and help keep it fresh and interesting. These two different types of stitch keep you thinking enough without forcing you to be glued to a pattern, as they are easily memorisable.

I did go wrong at the beginning because I forgot that the stitch counts given in the pattern, are for the stitches BETWEEN the stitch markers! And yes, I did rip out those sections before realising that the stitch count I had was actually correct. Other than my user error, the pattern was fun to do and the shawlette is great.

The shawl really is a good clavicle cover. It sits nicely around my shoulders, but still can cover up my upper arms nicely.

It is also a good size to use as a scarf. When it's worn that way, you really get the benefit of how smooth and soft this yarn is.

I wet blocked the shawlette using blocking wires and it made all the edges nice and smooth. I think it would be hard to duplicate this effect without using a LOT of pins.

I think this shawlette would work really well being sized up, by using two skeins of sock yarn, or even using a longer skein of 3-ply weight yarn (heavy lace). It's the sort of thing that would work well with a skein like my Posh Yarn Miranda Heavy Lace in Smooth Criminal.

You can see the different yarn choices used with the pattern here. I think a precious variegated sock yarn would be shown off well with the pattern, and I'm pretty sure I will knit it again.

I think you can tell I really love my new shawlette and have worn it a lot already, and just as importantly, I enjoyed knitting it. I also know I will buy more of the SweetGeorgia Tough Love Sock as it is lovely stuff and robust too. I may even be tempted to put it on my feet.