Wednesday 8 August 2018

Thursday 1 March 2018

Summmer Travels Inspiration Part Five - Lady's Tresses Shawl


So this is the final pattern in our series inspired by my travels in Summer 2016 (yes, I am that far behind on my pattern writing!) This pattern was inspired by a biking trip near Aviemore in the Scottish Highland where we came across a patch of beautiful Lady's Tresses orchids (yes, we do have orchids in Scotland!)

I absolutely love looking for unusual wildflowers, and finding wild orchids is always very special. Lady's Tresses shawl has a pretty floral motif and pointed edging, inspired by their delicate flowerheads. And the rest of the bike ride was very scenic too, through Scot's pine forest.



The shawl itself is very quick to knit, using less than 380yds / 350m of laceweight yarn. It starts with a garter stitch band shaped with short rows, then a band of floral lace which blends into a delicate lacy edging. Here's the pattern information:

Yarn:  Gemini Knits 2 ply Laceweight Baby Suri Alpaca/Merino (50% Baby Suri Alpaca, 50% Merino, 1097 yards / 1200m per 100g)
Colourway Stormclouds
380yds / 350m required

Dimensions: 9" / 22.5cm wide at the ends, 11" wide at the centre and 70" long.

Needles: US 6 / 4mm circular needle.  

Gauge: 16 sts = 4" / 10cm in stocking stitch after blocking.

Extras: Tapestry needle for weaving in loose ends, mat and t-pins for blocking.



Purchase the pattern on

 
 

Monday 1 January 2018

Happy New Year


Happy New Year Everyone!




We're celebrating with a 50% off sale on all our self-published patterns in our Ravelry store - use coupon code HAPPY2018 for half price patterns!

I really love welcoming the new year as a time to look back, take stock and make goals for the year to come. I've got into a bit of a habit of a new year blogpost, I think it's good for me to publicly make a statement about what I hope to achieve.

2017 was a year of a lot of ups and downs personally as well as globally. I started a new job back in the classroom teaching at a new school, finished my first year as an associate lecturer with the Open University, and got a crazy but very, very lovable rescue dog - all of which made 2017 a year of very low knitting productivity. Seriously, I only released two patterns last year which is my lowest ever in the 6 years or so I've been designing.

She's a very good girl, but there's not much time left for knitting!

But this year should hopefully be much calmer. I'm settled into my new jobs, and have three designs already knitted and at various stages of writing up. I would really, really love to go part time at my "real" job in 2019 and after crunching some numbers it's not too unrealistic. Even based on last year's numbers where I basically did nothing with my knitting business things are looking positive.

Some sneak peeks of 2018 patterns!

So basically, my new year's resolution is to knit more, design more and write lots more patterns!

It would be great to hear about everyone's crafting resolutions in the comments - and I hope a 50% pattern discount will help!