New England's Narrow Road

Casting On A New Shawl, Which One to Choose?

I have a pattern for a free shawl (Lionberry) which I have tried to knit twice now. I give up after spending another two days of my life getting it started. All my rows end up short, and even when I try to add stitches I get holes in the rows. Obviously, I still need practice.

Now I am searching through more favorite shawls I’ve saved on Ravelry to begin a new pattern.

Types of Shawls

The shawls in my quick drawing show the ones I have made, or will make (this gives away the one I eventually chose to knit!) I’ve decided that I prefer the triangular, half circle (crescent) and rectangle shapes best. I do have a hard time figuring out how to wear an irregular, long, triangle shape like the Scrappy Bias and Vine Pops.

Shawls I’ve Considered Knitting

Here is a list of my saved favorite shawls. I’ve discovered many pretty ones, but the question is, can I follow the pattern? I still need a fairly easy pattern, although I did manage to knit the Vine Pops triangular shawl by Kirsten Kapur in a Mystery Knit Along. I’m still amazed at that.

Danzig, by designer Justyna Lorkowska is a big triangle shape (arrow shape?) which she knitted in a light color (Malabrigo Mechita in “Pearl”) but added a bright variegated yarn (Malabrigo Mechita in “Diana”) which makes bright little dots and rows of color throughout by knitting short rows. I really love this one, but don’t have a lot of practice with short rows. The little ruffled scarf I am working on is the only place I have used them.

Note to self: After viewing the Danzig shawl colors chosen by other knitters, I would probably choose the colors the designer used, or something close.

And… by the same designer, a Free shawl pattern called “Eunni” which is available at Knitty.com, but this one looks involved. It’s free, so I may give it a try. It’s also very colorful, so not sure what I would do with that.

Her designs are quite lovely and I have also favorited Aisling, which is a crescent shaped shawl, and Penicuik. These links go to Ravelry where you can see photos and buy the patterns if you like. I think you will need to sign up, which is free and it’s a great place to find patterns, both free and to purchase.

The Slumber Shawl by Stephen West is so pretty with the wavy edge . I’m not crazy about the color yellow, but the yellow and gray gradient in this one looks awesome. Also, the yarn weight called for is worsted or Aran to make a more dense, warm neck wrap.

Making a Pattern Choice

Yesterday I went yarn shopping and bought a ton of new yarn from the visiting yarn truck so I am itching to use it! (More on that yarn truck on another post.) As I shopped around Ravelry (which can take hours out of my day) I found some nice discounts and deals.

skeins of Emma's Yarn — Emma’s Yarn new skeins purchased from Four Purls

Once I happened across some shawls by Janina Kallio of Woolenberry and saw that she was offering a winter discount, I jumped at the chance to have her patterns. It was buy two, get one free, so I ended up with three shawl patterns for the price of two. Great deal!

Choosing three was tough, with all the pretty shawls offered, but I wanted something other than a triangle shape, which narrowed it down. Also, since I tend to buy one skein of yarn in a color that grabs my attention (like in the photo above), I hoped to find shawls that would take one skein.

The first shawl I chose is “Railings” and is a half circle shape. One skein of fingering weight yarn is used, so that is perfect. The beautiful “Floral” shawl is in crescent shape and takes more than one skein but is so pretty! And my last choice is a unique shawl that is knit from the bottom up with a lacy border added afterward. It’s called “Dewdrops“. I am not sure which one I will try first, but I’m casting on tomorrow!

Finished Knitting the Scrappy Bias Shawl

The Scrappy Bias Shawl was a free pattern I found at Ravelry (link below). The knitting begins at one point and expands outward by using increases on one edge and decreases on the other, which ends up as an elongated triangle shape. It’s very simple to work and can be knit in so many ways.

I liked the idea of the gradient, so I chose colors that complemented each other as they changed from darker blue, green, brown, and red, to light pink, yellow and speckled in the center. Then, back to the same dark colors at the long end of the scarf. Following a pattern, yet doing my own thing, made knitting this shawl fun. No one will have a scarf exactly like mine!

My colorful version of the free pattern: scrappy bias shawl — Scrappy Bias shawl – completed!

Fortunately I was knitting during the Florida winter so I could put on my flannel and wrap up in my finished shawl and not be roasting hot for the photo below. I don’t get much chance to wear any of my knitwear because of the climate, but occasionally it does happen.

Me wearing my newly knitted Scrappy Bias Shawl — Wearing my new shawl

***Here is the link to the Scrappy Bias Shawl pattern on Ravelry, where you will see some of the various styles and colors knitters have chosen. (You will need to create an account to view Ravelry pages.) It could be knit in a solid color, stripes, or using self-striping yarn. Use heavier worsted to make it chunky, or lighter weight yarn would give it more of a drape. Clever people could also add a design of some sort throughout.

I didn’t follow the bind off suggested in the pattern, but did an I-cord bind-off instead (See the video above for “How To”). I had just learned how when finishing my Bay’s Edge shawl, and love the look.

Visit my Knitting, Yarn and Patterns board on Pinterest for more ideas.

Christmas Gift to Me, Milarrochy Heids Hat Pattern Book

Just before Christmas I stumbled across the Milarrochy Heids hat pattern book by Kate Davies Designs. I honestly cannot remember how I came across this book, which comes from Scotland (awesome). I think I saw one of the hats, which grabbed my attention. It was the Tarradale, which is a slouchy, reversible hat with a big star motif. I fell in love with this hat! And as I saw more hats featured in this book, I knew I had to have it.

Unfortunately for me, the Tarradale hat is done in something called “double-knitting” and turns out to be a pattern that is currently too difficult for me to attempt (something to look forward to). But the book contains patterns which are doable for many skill levels, although reading a chart is necessary.

Let’s Stripe and Tettegouche

If you buy the Milarrochy Heids book, be sure to read the introduction pages. A number of designers contributed to this book, and the finished products are very unique. FYI: You will have to know how to read a chart.

Of course I wanted to jump right in and find a pattern, but the first couple of pages are insightful. And nature photography exists alongside gorgeous pictures of all the hats. It’s a very lovely book, with a total of 100 pages.

In that beginning section Kate Davies suggests a few patterns suitable for the novice knitter. Let’s Stripe was one, and I chose to make it first, but I chose my own colors and didn’t follow the color chart. I also made it a bit taller.

My version of “Let’s Stripe” hat pattern

Because my yarn order of the Milarrochy Tweed yarn had not arrived, I began the striped hat using yarn from my stash. Mostly I used Madeline Tosh sock yarn and other fingering weights. This is a great pattern for using up leftover bits of yarn, but be warned… there are a million tails to weave in when you finish! I carried some colors to reduce the cutting of colors, but still…..

Weaving in the tails on Let's Stripe — There are a lot of tails to weave in on the Let’s Stripe hat

Once the Milarrochy tweed yarn arrived – all the way from Scotland!…., I cast on the Tettegouche. This one involves color work, which I don’t have a ton of experience with. It will take me a while to finish, but it’s fun to work on and the hat is so pretty. I will post a picture when it’s finished. Below is a photo of the cute little balls of tweed yarn.

All the hats in this book are knit with small needle sizes, such as 2, 3, and 4. One takes a size 5, and your gauge may be different, but you won’t be able to go down much.

I hope to eventually make every hat in the book. For now, some other favorite patterns of mine are Roamin’, Breiwick (hat on cover), and Every Flavour.

Milarrochy Heids hat pattern book with my beginning of the Tettegouche hat showing

Skinny Ruffle Scarf Free Knitting Pattern

I apologize for the absence of the Skinny Ruffle Scarf pattern, but the site has disappeared so the link I had here no longer works. But, a better place to find LOTS of pattern similar to this one (and they are FREE) is the Ravelry site. If you are not a member, it’s free to join and anyone who knits / crochets should be part of this site.

Check out the Pattern Search for “ruffle scarf” with the word “free” chosen on the left side options. Here is the page, which you may be able to get to if you have an account. It includes knit and crochet patterns and lists over 700 free scarves!