A one-of-a-kind scarf

This is definitely a one-time-only make. I used a ball of King Cole Riot Double Knit, one of two that I bought 14 years ago in the shade Magic; that colour has long since been discontinued, several years ago, I believe. I made a scarf with one of the balls back in 2011, leaving this ball of yarn in my stash all that time.

In an attempt to clear out some of my vast stash of yarns that have been sitting unused for years, I decided to try a different scarf pattern from the one I used for this yarn last time. Unfortunately, this yarn will not work with any of the patterns I have used recently. I needed to find a pattern that would work well with this yarn's long colour changes. The actual knitting side of things was a doddle, no complicated stitches or anything. The really annoying thing was the constant need to frog my work because I worked the wrong part of the pattern in confusion. Keeping track of where I was on the pattern was a nightmare, back and forth, knitting this bit, turning a page or two, knitting this section, then back to here and knitting this section. I think a very sadistic person wrote the pattern this way. Why not just write the pattern out in full and sell it in that format!

It took me about 16 hours to make, far longer than it should have taken. For this reason, I have drastically reduced the number of hours of labour when calculating a price for this piece. All that confusion, page turning, and hunting down this section, that section, the next section - a nightmare. If I were to make this design again, I would have to type out the pattern in full, in order, and print it out so that I can follow it. I will save several hours on the making time if I do this, and then I can make them in all sorts of colours to make it worth the time of typing the pattern out.

I started making it on 9th March and finished it on 16th March 2015. I did wind the yarn into a yarn cake first, as this made it easier to knit from. I'm happy with the final results, though, and it's really soft and drapes really well.

Design A197 - Moss green cotton

I've been continuing to work on making motifs in a range of colours but I have quite a lot of cotton in this moss green/olive green colour and so I have decided that I will make a small shawl with it first and then I can use up any left overs on the multi-coloured shawls.

I've made a few of this design in the past, but not for a few years, with the last one I made being a custom make for a larger version of this.  This one has turned out a little on the small side even though I have used up almost all of the yarn.  I can't even add one more row as I don't have enough yarn to do that.  The left overs from this were just enough to make one single motif for the other shawls that I am working on.

Because of how small this is it is probably best worn like a bib with an open fronted style of coat. This one worn in the traditional way with the pattern down the back will fit either a very small woman or would be ideal for a child.  The only other thing it could be used for is a head covering perhaps? I remember my late mother wore headscarves in the 1970's when I was a small child.

Design B528 in King Cole Drifter - Barcelona

It's been a while since I knit a shawl and I think it's time to start doing some more making.  I decided to use the other one of the yarns that I bought as a potential candidate for the custom a while back, I bought this one and then the same but in pink and I am knitting the same design.  Its made with King Cole Drifter Chunky in shade "Barcelona" and is 69% Acrylic, 25% Cotton, 6% Wool.

I think that the design I have chosen works well with this busy yarn.  I don't like overly busy colours. The stripes of the lace pattern work nicely with the stripes of the yarn. 

I finally got around to taking photos of the finished item, it was nearly 2 years later but then I have been up to my eyeballs in British Sheep Breed fleece and Covid Lockdown and all sense of time passed just vaporised into thin air!

B528 in King Cole Drifter - Jakarta

I enjoyed making that last shawl so much that I've made another.  This time I've use one of the yarns that I bought as a potential candidate for the custom make last year but then it turned out not to be anything like what the customer was thinking of.  Its made with King Cole Drifter Chunky in shade "Jakarta" and is 69% Acrylic, 25% Cotton, 6% Wool.

I think this is just about as busy a yarn that this design can take, anything more busy and it will tip it over the edge for me.  The stripes of the lace pattern work nicely with the stripes of the yarn but if I'd used a different lace pattern, featuring leaves perhaps, then this would not have worked out very nice. 

I finally got around to taking photos of the finished item, if it was nearly 2 years later but then I have been up to my eyeballs in British Sheep Breed fleece and Covid Lockdown and all sense of time passed just vaporised into thin air!

Yet another new design - B528

This one is another simple, but effective, shawl pattern and, again, I have used another of my hand spun yarns for this one too, this time a recently spun one that you can read about here.

Knitted simply in repeating 4 blocks of 4 row patterns and the colours in the yarn balances nicely with the simplicity of the pattern, neither are too busy for the other.  The first photo of the shawl on the needles is more true to colour than the photos of the finished item on my kitchen floor.  That wintertime artificial light is playing havoc again with the colours in my photos.

Finally got around to taking photos outside on a good day, even if it was nearly 2 years after I made it.  How time flies when you're up to your eyeballs in British Sheep Breeds and Covid Lockdown.

A516 in Powder blue

One more of this design before I move onto another for bit.  This is some powder blue 70% Silk/30% Cotton yarn by Rowan that is now discontinued and I like this as its nice and textured.

It wasn't until after I had finished making the shawl and laid it out to look at it that I noticed that two of the skeins must have been from a different dye lot from the third skein as there is a slight difference in depth of colour at the top of the shawl to that at the bottom and thankfully I have somehow used all the slightly darker yarn first and then the lighter last and the depth of colour change falls right on ridge between two pattern sets.  I'm glad it didn't work out as dark, light, dark as that would have produced stripes, but uneven stripes.  I also made a flower brooch for this one but its a different flower design as I didn't have enough yarn left for the other flower type that I've been making.

A516 in Grey Mohair

And its straight on with the next.  Another of A516 designs and again in Vintage Mohair, this time it's a lilac'y grey.

I done a lot more of the pattern repeats on this one as I have more of this yarn and this makes for a larger shawl.  I done another of the same flower brooches that will be supplied with the shawl when it goes in my Etsy shop.

A516 in Kingfisher Mohair

No sooner have I finished my first shawl in a while than I am on with the next one using some brightly coloured vintage Mohair yarn in shade Kingfisher.  I love the colour of this.

This is the second of a newish design, the first one being done April 2019 and its a simple pattern but really pretty.  I decided to make a simple crochet flower brooch with some of the leftover yarn and this will be supplied with the shawl when it finally makes it to my shop.

SB168 - Custom order for two capelets

Way back in October I was contacted about a custom order for two capelets in a particular colour combination.  The lady knew what colour she wanted so I took myself off to the local craft shop to have a look at what they had in stock and I picked up a couple of things but nothing like what the lady wanted.  She sent me a photo of yarn that she had seen and I tried to get it here in the UK, searching online but nothing for that yarn thickness in that particular colour.  I did find it on a US website, got excited, but then I got kicked off the website with the message that was something along the lines of "You're in an EU country, you do not have permission to view this site".  Very strange but not the first time I've had this happen.  The customer informed me that she would get the yarn, a Super Bulky weight yarn.

Soon after, the customer messaged me to say that she had got the yarn and would send it to me, so I gave her my address.  Fast forward a number of weeks and the yarn arrived with me on 23rd January, along with a few things that the customer sent to me as gifts.  It wasn't the yarn that I was expecting, so that was a shock when I opened the box and was I initially perplexed at what I was looking at, as some of the gifts were yarn.  Once I read the letter that was enclosed and figured it out I worked out that I would have to knit this yarn holding four strands together to make it the right thickness for the pattern as the yarn she had sent was only Double Knit weight.  It wasn't easy keeping it all together, smooth and the colours aligned with each other, but I did as best as I could and I did manage it, slower than usual, but hey-ho.

I've made something for myself

I needed to make something for myself, I never make anything for myself so now is my chance.  I started this way back in September and it got put the side whilst I dealt with all sorts of family issues and you may notice a little bit of a line on the second work-in-progress photo.  This is where I stopped, left it for a while, and then picked it back up again and just shows a little bit of difference in the tension but it all washed and blocked out.  Blocking helps to even the stitches out.

I made it using this Whistlebare Yeavering Bell yarn that is 60% Mohair, 40% Wensleydale and I found that it shed like hell.  I was covered in Mohair every time I knit.  I have no plans to add this design to my range as the pattern designer does not allow you to use the pattern for commercial purposes, however small amount of sales you might have, so I won't be going there.  I will be sticking to patterns from designers and yarn companies that allow you to use their patterns to make items to sell.

I apologise for the variation of colour in the photos, I just can't get them all the same due to different lighting at the point of photography.  I have tried to edit them as best as I could to represent the actual colour but I'm still finding this almost impossible.

Another new design - Design A516 in green tweedy yarn

Another new design and another one that is fairly easy to adjust in size.  I used up some tweedy olive green wool that I bought.  I don't know the brand but it is 100% wool.  Not the softest yarn but its not too bad and despite increasing the needle size I have still managed to produce a fairly stiff fabric, which should soften with time and wear and is incredibly warm.

I took the product photos in two different ways as this shawl is versatile but I think the wedding setting is really nice.

Yep, its another Design A2 - Salmon Mohair

I decided to use up the leftovers from a Custom shawl next, I bought a little extra whilst I could just in case of any miscalculations or emergencies such as bad or damaged yarn, seeing as this is vintage yarn and almost impossible to get hold of.  It was a miracle I was able to find any.

This is Charisma Fashion Mohair from Colours by Adrian of Edinburgh in shade Salmon and its 78% Mohair, 13% Wool, 9% Nylon.

Its a lovely, pretty yarn, but its Mohair and does shed but not as bad as some that I've used in the past.

Once again, the product photos were taken a number of months after I made the shawl as I had a lot going on and I'd put so much weight on that I couldn't fit into the wedding dress so I had to lose weight before I could do the photo shoot.

Another Design A2 - Colinette Fire

Carrying on with my Design A2 roll, I have picked a single skein of Colinette Mohair in shade Fire and this yarn has been discontinued some time.  Its 78% Mohair, 13% Wool, 9% Nylon.  Again, I used all of the skein.  I made this so fast that I didn't take any progress photos, nor did I take any when I washed and blocked it.

These product photos were taken several months after I made the item.

Bluefaced Leicester - Design A2

I've decided to use up some of my widow skeins on some more A2 Designs.  This one is 100% Bluefaced Leicester aran weight yarn from West Yorkshire Spinners and was spun at their Yorkshire Mill.  Its really lovely and soft.

I just kept knitting until I ran out of yarn.

It was a fair few months before I got around to photographing it.

A little bit of A2

Design A2 is a good design for using up single skeins of aran weight yarn or left-overs from a larger project.  It is a versatile design that is really adjustable once you have the main part of the shawl worked, after that it is dependent on what yarn you left as to how big it can become.

I have a few single skeins of varying length of aran weight yarn that I can't really do anything else with.  Maybe I could look to see if I could work it with something else and make something with stripes but these are completely different texture and colour to anything else that I have, in most cases, and so a versatile pattern like this is a lifesaver.

I have a single skein of Rowan Summer Tweed in shade Sprig.  Its not a huge skein and is quite textured.  Its 70% Silk, 30% Cotton and I have 120m of it.

Ok, I was just one row short of the main part of the pattern but it has made a cute little scarf, ideal if you don't like much bulk.

A new design - L515

I'm trying a new design for a narrow scarf like shawl using some of my own handspun Shetland Wool yarn.  I love the design, although it is quite complex and time consuming and I am disappointed that I didn't get to finish the pattern as it was written because the required meterage of yarn had been converted wrongly so I had to make a decision on what to do based on roughly how much yarn I had left.  I had about 20m of yarn left to complete 18 rows of beaded lace plus the beaded cast off.  Well, that just isn't going to happen is it!  The pattern said it required 250m, the yarn I had had 360m in it and the correct actual meterage required is 465m.

Okey dokey then, straight into a beaded picot cast off to give it a pretty top edge.  I used Toho beads size 8 in shade 177: Trans Rainbow Smokey Topaz and it took a total of 436 beads.

Another completed custom order - Design A197

Back in November I sold a shawlette to a customer and she contact me soon afterwards to ask if I could make another, exactly the same using the same yarn, but larger as it perfectly matches a Mantilla (Chapel Veil) that she intends to wear to her daughters first Holy Communion in May 2019 and that she wants to keep the shawlette already purchased so her daughter can wear it.

This posed me a bit of a problem as most of the yarns I use are either hand spun or vintage and in most cases if I don't have any left it is impossible to get more.  In this case it was some vintage Mohair called Charisma Luxury Fashion Mohair by Colours by Adrian of Edinburgh in shade Salmon.

I searched every where I could think of online and found nothing other than some very similar mohair and mohair-type yarns on Ebay and so I bought a few bits and pieces that might be a good match, which when they arrived they turned out not be such a good colour match after all.  Whilst waiting for some of these yarns to arrive I did finally manage to track some of the exact same yarn down, more expensive than what I paid for it originally but then the original yarn did come via Ebay, I do love a bargain, but this was coming from a shop that sells vintage yarns so is bound to be more expensive anyway.

After a little bit of back and forth regarding sizes and prices etc the order was placed and paid for with the instruction of not to rush, enjoy Christmas and to get it to her by the end of January if I could.  Brilliant, that gives me plenty of time to get it done.

Side by side of before and after washing and blocking.

My daughter modelling it for me to show off the size and pattern.  So pretty.