Holiday Knitting - Pebble Beach Shawlette

With sewing taking an ever increasing place in my day as 'work' I have found I turn to knitting more and more as a form of relaxation. In fact I can't remember a time when I didn't have a knitting project on the needles. As soon as one is finished, I have to cast on the next, ready for those rare 5 minters every now and then that I get to indulge myself. Much like english paper piecing, knitting is a portable handy time passing activity, perfect for picking up when there is a dentist appointment, or a school club to wait for or watching the kids in the park.

My knitting has come on so much in the last year, I am really am in love with this new skill and I am excited to see what I can challenge myself to achieve next!

Recently I took part in my first knit along, much like a quilt along, and it was great fun! Everyone knit the wonderful Pebble Beach shawlette designed by Helen Stewart of Curious Handmade.

I used some lovely silk merino mix yarn from the Natural Dye Studio, aptly called Sea King. So soft and full of lovely hues of the sea, I want everything I knit to have silk in from now on!

I enjoyed taking the project with me everywhere, working on it a little at a time and it soon grew. I even took pebble beach to a pebble beach! I loved Helen's wonderful way of getting you to work through the pattern in percentages, very motivational to see them flying by.



 I added beads to my shawl, the first time I have tried this and I will be doing it again for sure. I love the very subtle sparkle they give and the weight to the shawl is a bonus, helping it stay in place when worn.




I used Soak for the first time for blocking and it was lovely, its on my birthday list now (oh I hope my husband reads this before next week!) The lace pattern came out wonderfully with the blocking and I know that I will knit another in the future, its just so pretty! Actually, I am pretty amazed that I have knit this, I feel incredibly clever and I am still a little shocked that I can create something so complex!



I need not fear the cool evenings that are drawing in, in fact I welcome them so I can wear my pretty shawl!



Of course, the next project is already on the needles! If you are interested the full details of my project can be found here on my ravelry page.

Going off grid

Ahem, as you may have already noticed I have been having an extended break from blogging. How refreshing its been too. I have missed you all but I have been filling my time with teaching, sewing, lots of knitting and lots of relaxing. Life has been busy and I have been making a conscious effort to rest. I have been feeling unwell for months now but with spring on the way and lots of duvet days, slow knitting and reading under my belt it feels good! I have still been sharing, as you doubt have read from other bloggers I am loving Instagram. I feel like I am leaving those of you who don't use it out of the loop but I love its instant, no nonsense way of connecting and sharing. I also find SO much inspiration on there!

I hope to pop in a little more regularly now that I am starting to get that spring back in my step! I thought I would start off with something completely new for me, a knitting tutorial!

Annie at the Village Haberdashery is so great, she sent me this amazing Manos Silk Blend yarn when I told her I had an idea for a cowl. A really simple cowl with a lovely leaf motif, the perfect introduction to lace knitting. And her photos as always are amazing!

It knits up really quickly, full instructions for the cowl are over on the Daily Stitch Blog and you can pick up some of the beautiful Manos Silk Blend from The Village Haberdashery here, you only need two hanks! If you are local you can pop into the shop and see my cowl for yourself, it really is so soft, perfect to wear next to your skin.

This is the first knitting pattern I have written and I am so proud, especially as I only started knitting a year ago. I know I am hooked for life now!!

Practising with a different kind of needle

Recently I have been playing with bigger needles, knitting needles to be exact.

I have been trying to knit since I was about 10, with several half hearted attempts at learning! This time I think I have finally cracked it.....and I am not going to stop knitting just in case I forget again :-)

I have had one little project or another on the go for the last couple of months. I started off with these socks, pretty proud of these considering my earlier knitting attempts have only resulted in a rectangular scarf!

 

Pleased with my socks I knitted my little girl a cute pair of mouse mittens (truth be told I wish they were my size!)

Then I moved onto a shawl, love the drapey nature of this, I used a sock yarn and large needle and got a wonderful sized shawl from just one ball of yarn. I predict more shawls to come!

 

And this weekend I finished my first ever knitted garment! A cardigan for my youngest  There are a few mistakes on the lace placket on the front, but I really don't care! It is a cardi, looks like a cardi and wears like a cardi and I honestly cant really believe I managed to knit it!

I used some of my Nannie buttons to finish it off and the new owner has already worn it, in fact she put it on the minute it came off the needles!

I have already cast on some armwarmers, to keep me warm whilst sewing, must keep knitting, I wouldn't want to forget this new skill :-)