New England's Narrow Road

Easy Knitting FREE Shawl Pattern For Gradient Yarns

Lots of knitters love to use gradient color yarns. Often shawl patterns work best for this, and I have found a free, simple pattern to try. It is called the Scrappy Bias Shawl and you can download it at Ravelry. I am grateful to knitters who share their free patterns. It’s the perfect way for beginners to get used to trying new things.

Some yarn shops will offer small skeins of colors that match or contrast which can be knit up in any order you choose to make your own gradient of color. This requires adding new colors as you knit and can leave lots of tails to deal with. The effect can be quite pretty, but with lots of weaving to come.

yarn tails — Changing colors makes many tails of yarn to weave in later

Speckled or variegated yarns can also be used to create a gradient effect, and I love the look. I began the ‘Scrappy Bias Shawl’ using dark green fingering yarn, then dug out more skeins hoping to have the colors changes from dark to light along the way. I am not finished, and will begin to revert back to darker colors to end with.

Create Your Own Design

What I love about this simple pattern is that once you know the basics of the shaping, the colors can be anything at all! It could be done in wide stripes, skinny stripes, a solid color, or add a simple pattern to some of the rows.

I decided to knit approximately 20 rows with one color, and then alternate two rows with my next color choice. You can see that in my image below where I went from pink to yellow, then yellow to variegated white. I did not buy any yarn, but used what I had in my stash already. I believe the “scrappy” part of the title is meant for knitters to use up their scrap yarn on this project.

Mostly I am using Mad Tosh Merino Light and similar sock / fingering weight yarn. It’s a simple garter stitch knit with increases at one side and a decrease at the other. I wanted my colors to “blend” as I progressed. Viewing the pattern page will also show how other knitters interpreted this pattern.

Changing yarns: All my new yarn was added on the same side of the project so each color row made one complete back and forth row. Then I would pick up the alternate color to knit. Once I was done with the previous color, I cut it and continued on with the new color.

For easy counting of stitches, I have added stitch markers at 20 stitch intervals. Once you memorize the beginning and ending of rows, this pattern is super simple to knit while watching television.

new shawl — The shawl is finished… read more here.

Avoid All Those Tails by Using Gradient Yarn

After some searching online I found some lovely yarn at The Fibre Studio called 50 Shades of Gradient. Check out “Nantahala” (one I must buy soon) and others that come in cake skeins which make wide color swaths that gradually change as you knit.

My other WIP (work in progress) is the Bay’s Edge Shawl. And I just finished up a couple of hats and a thick scarf to give as Christmas gifts.

Winter Knitting Bay’s Edge Shawl Pattern

Today I finally decided on the seven colors I would use to knit the Bay’s Edge Shawl pattern. I had been searching for a rectangular shaped shawl to knit.

It took me days to decide which blue-green shades of yarn to use. Then there were the two contrast colors. The main color was an easy choice as I wanted something with a bit of a gradient and not the plain white shown in the pattern. I wanted colors to represent ocean and beaches I see near my home.

The Bay’s Edge pattern suggests a gradient yarn collection (find it at Miss Babs) to make buying easier, but I wanted to choose my own colors! The ripple effect evokes waves of water so I chose blue-greens and blues with one tan (sand color) and a peachy-pink to add a bit of color to offset the blues.

At Miss Babs I added many colors to the “compare” section, then deleted them, and added more. I think I went through every single 2-ply toes yarn shown! The only color which is the same as one in the collection of yarn used in the sample pattern is Sea Oat. I chose to exchange their blues, green and purple with shades of blue-green.

My main color yarn will be “Life Begins” which is a Yummy 2-Ply wild iris (non-repeatable color way) in light blue-green with some speckles – See the big skein below. I needed one skein in 400 yds. My yarn arrived November 1st – how exciting! I love those little gifts they always include, and the yarn is super wonderful! Look at those colors…!

shades of green yarn — Yarn colors for my shawl project

Miss Babs offers smaller skeins of Yummy 2-Ply Toes with 133 yards each, and I needed 6 of those to complete the “waves” in the pattern.

Here is what colors I ended up choosing: (a “wild iris” color is non-repeatable, one of a kind dye lot).

“Sea Curtain” (Wild Iris)
“Mount Kootaloo”
“Black Watch”
“Sea Oat” – tan / beige
“Picuri” (Wild Iris) – pink
“Aquarius”

I would have liked the two darkest greens to be more of a contrast, but buying yarn online makes it difficult to see everything together. The “Blackwatch” color way is really beautiful and I’d love to knit something using that color again. It looks a lot more green than blue in reality. The photos at Miss Babs look very blue, which mine was not.

Beginning the Shawl Pattern

It took me three tries to get this shawl’s “cast on”. If you have ever knit a triangle shawl, you probably know how that weird beginning goes. You must know how to “pick up and knit” stitches. I suspected it would give me trouble and I expected to have to re-do. I finally had it looking okay and got on a roll. I can see the pretty little triangle shape emerging!

Miss Babs yarn is so pretty with slight variations in color throughout.

knitting the Bays Edge shawl — Beginning the shawl

Now it is January and I am finishing up this shawl. Once I did the bind-off on the first edge, I fell in love! The I-cord bind off looks so nice. Once I completed the second half and needed to do the bind-off again, I had to look it up to refresh my memory.

Today I wove in the ends and washed the finished shawl. It is blocked on Knit IQ mats, and in the process of drying in the spare bedroom. The pattern was easy to follow and fun to knit. I really love the way it turned out. The yarn colors I chose were meant to represent the colors of the sea. Shades of blue-green from light to dark are mixed with a row of beige for “sand” and “pink” for seashells.

Bays edge shawl in ocean colors — Blocked and drying – the Bay’s Edge shawl

My Notes on Knitting the Bay’s Edge Shawl

Notes: Beginning this shawl is a bit tricky. Watch a video about how to pick up stitches and knit them, if you have never done this. You must know how to SSK and M1R and M1L. I placed markers for each 19 stitch set on the making waves rows just in case I ended up off with my count at the end of the row. I could easily go back and count 19 stitches in each section to see where I was off. Many of the rows were simple knit across, which could easily be done while watching TV. The I-cord bind off takes time, but is worth it.

More Rectangular Shawl Patterns

Buy the Bay’s Edge Shawl pattern (link at the top of this page) or view some of the other patterns I found in my search for rectangular shaped wraps.

Opaline Wrap by Ambah O’Brien

Torquata by Ambah O’Brien

Fading Point by Joji Locatelli

Nakarra Wrap by Ambah

Time Trades by Caitlin Hunter

Honestly some of the patterns seemed too involved for me, but maybe one day I will be brave and make the attempt because they are all beautiful.

Winter Hats I’ve Been Knitting

All hats shown here were knit from patterns found in the Hats On! pattern book which is available at Amazon.

Gansey Watch Cap

Screen Shot 2018-08-07 at 7.05.05 PM — Fur Pom Pom Added to Gansey Watch Cap

The pattern is in chart form only, and I was not sure how to do it. I think the top is not quite right, but it’s good enough. I would make this hat again with smaller needles in the smaller size. Mine is a size Medium, but came out a bit loose.

Fana Cap

I finished knitting the Fana Cap just before I left for New Hampshire, and gave it to my daughter. We volunteered at the Monadnock Animal Shelter fundraiser and it was a cold, rainy day, so she wore her new hat.

Yarn Used: Manos del Uruguay “Gloria” in superwash merino worsted wool in color “Pescador” blue. White yarn is Rowan Alpaca soft DK combined with Rowan Kidsilk Haze mohair, held together.

Notes / Changes: I made the Medium size, which was perfect for my daughter’s small head, but next time I would make the larger size.

Aran Watch Cap

I knit this one in size Medium which was large enough around, but I needed more height. Changes: Next time I will add another inch to the top part and maybe make a longer cuff. I like a nice wide cuff to flip up and give my ears double coverage in the cold.

This is an interesting pattern with cable and seed stitch between simple knits and purls. For that reason a solid color is recommended. I used Malabrigo worsted yarn in “Water Green” color which made this finished hat nice and soft.

I plan to make this one again with the changes I mentioned. The decrease section is quick so dealing with DPN’s is fast.

Depending on your knitting skill level, the hats in this book will keep most knitters happy. I began by knitting the simple patterns like the Classic Watch Cap and Tam, and progressed to two color patterns and cable patterns. Still on my list of “want to knit” are the Triple Pattern Watch Cap, All-over Two-Color Pattern Watch Cap, and Norwegian Star.

Some of the colors chosen to knit the sample hats in this book are not the best, but change the colors yourself and come up with something unique.

Aran watch cap hat pattern — Aran Watch Cap

For more hat’s to knit (FREE patterns) for baby / children, see my post at Little Pink Baby Hat Knit in a Day.

Photos From New England, My One Good Day

Recently (October 2018) I spent a week in my old hangout around Peterborough, New Hampshire. Foliage season was winding down, but there were lots of yellow and gold colors left on the trees, with some red around the lakes. My vacation was a good one, but the weather turned cold and rainy after this one good day. I spent it outdoors at my favorite lake.

Fall foliage roadside in New Hampshire — Red and orange leaves by the lake

The day I arrived in New Hampshire the weather was beautiful with temps in the seventies. Unfortunately I had been up since three in the morning dealing with airports so I was a bit tired to enjoy it.

My first full day of vacation brought another beautiful, sunny day and it was the last one in the forecast for the week! I had to take advantage of it. There were clouds, but it was beautiful weather for walking and photography. Some of my photos are dark because the sun did not come out when it should have!

Geese on the lake — Geese family on Gregg Lake

A sweet friend, who lives on a lake, had invited me to go kayaking that afternoon. I was determined not to waste the morning hours so I headed to Gregg Lake for a walk. Her lake was not far away, so I tried to plan it so I could walk and then kayak. Yikes, I was horribly out of shape, and I did pay for all that exercise the following day with some sore muscles, but it was well worth the hours spent breathing in gorgeous New England air!

bright red leaves — Some bright leaves remain

Revisiting The Bridge

Most of my old, favorite Fall photographs are from the Gregg Lake area because I lived close by at one time. I’m a bit of a nomad and have lived in many spots, but my time near the lake was special.

I walked this area in all types of weather including after snowstorms, to get my photos. Blueberry picking is good around the lake in summer and I traveled back here to do just that when I lived in Peterborough. But my favorite season was always autumn. The summer people and beach goers were gone and peace and quiet returned. Each day I watched the color change on the trees and could pick the best days to get my pictures.

bridge by the lake in fall — A favorite view of the little bridge

The picture above is one of my favorite views for photography. The lake is to the left and the water in this photo is more of a shallow pond. Kayaks can go under the road bridge, which is to my left and out of view here, and travel around this small area. The bridge in the distance connects this pond area with another shallow area of water. The road is a dirt one and is good for walking, except that it was hunting season so I did not venture into the woods, or down that road.

Quite a few years ago I made my photo of this bridge into a postcard to sell in my Zazzle store. You can see it below. That photo was taken many years ago. If I had made my journey to New England a week earlier I may have seen these bright colors. Beginning of October is when the color was usually best around the lake and I visited in mid-October. A bit late, but it couldn’t be helped.

The wooden bridge in Fall (above)- This is an old photo taken in 2008 maybe?

Gregg Lake foliage and water — Another favorite spot to photograph

I have taken many photos from the spot shown in the photo above. If you catch it right, the foliage, lake and wooden fence make a beautiful image.

The old wooden fence adds interest to the scene where the road stretches around the lake to show the beach area and a few houses beyond. A red tree grows from a small island near the shore with some yellows left on the trees roadside. This area of water is where the geese hang out and when I used this road daily, it was not unusual to have to stop my car to let the babies follow mom across the road here.

I made another postcard of this view which was taken earlier in the season. Leaves were just beginning to change, so probably early to mid-September. (See image below)

lake photography — End of summer lake photo

The hours I spent walking this road were some of the most peaceful in my tumultuous life. This area will always be special to me and any time I travel back “home”, I will make a point to take in the views around Gregg Lake. I suppose next time the view will include wind turbines. I’ll be writing about that.