I love luxury yarn, especially silk yarn, and I am lucky to be able to work with Anne at Willow Knits who hand dyes silk yarn in luscious colours.   I’ve done several crochet designs in her yarn yet only one knit design (Bilateral Mitts which also included crochet!).  A few months ago Anne asked if I could adapt one of my knitted shawl designs to her yarn and see if I could make it into a smaller one-skein shawlette.  We agreed a variation of Bilberry Shawl would be a good choice.  So I put my thinking cap on and pulled out the old spreadsheet; a few tweaks later and my suggested adaptation was winging its way to Anne.  The result is Willowberry Shawlette

Anne knitted this in Willow Knits Hand Dyed Silk Worsted yarn and used almost all of one skein.  The colour is called ‘Foliage’ and I love it!

Willowberry is available on Ravelry but is also available at shows that Willow Knits attends, at half price with the purchase of one skein of yarn.

The next show is Southern Wool Show at Newbury this coming weekend (31st August and 1st September), where you will be able to see Willowberry ‘in the yarn’ on the Willow Knits stand!  Anne will also have a selection of other kits and patterns from our collaborations, along with her gorgeous yarn.

Other shows you will find Willow Knits at this year are Hitchin Festiwool on 9th November and St Albans’ farmers markets on 8th September, 13th October, 10th November and 8th December.

Happy knitting xxx

 

 

Today’s the day!  Stashaway has been published on Ravelry here.

As promised the written pattern is below, so you don’t have to purchase the pattern to join the CAL (although if you want to support my work it costs only £1).  It can be made in any yarn but  I used 4ply which gives a lovely drape.  So far I have made 2 – one using some precious stash from Triskelion and Nimu in blues and greens and the other using some Sweet Georgia Tough Love Sock in yellow through to red.  The sizes varied because I used less yarn in the Sweet Georgia – 480m rather than almost 600m.  Here they both are:

The blue/green version was the most fun because I played with stripes and that is what will make the CAL fun – I can’t wait to see what colours and stripes you all choose! It came out at about 180cm by 35cm (71″ by 14″).  The yellow to red version was made by using all the colours in order, forming 5 broad stripes.  It came out at 157cm by 33cm (62″ by 13″).

My CAL will use this yarn:

Yes, I couldn’t resist doing a few rows this morning!   I haven’t decided on my stripes fully but I will use one full skein of the lavender (that’s 50g) before starting the stripes, so I have a while before deciding.

I guess I’ve whetted your appetite enough and you want the pattern now!   Ok, here it is:

Abbreviations (UK)

st(s) – stitch(es)

ch – chain

htr – half treble (half double crochet in US terms)

Yes only 2 stitches!

Instructions

Row 1: 3ch (counts as 1ch, 1htr), 1htr in 3rd ch from hook, turn [2sts]

Row 2: 2ch (counts as 1htr), 1htr in st at base of 2ch, 1htr in top of 2ch, turn [3sts]

Row 3: 1ch (does not count as st), miss 1st st, 1htr in next st, 2htr in next (last) st, turn [3sts]

Row 4: 2ch (counts as 1htr), 1htr in st at base of 2ch, 1htr in each st to end, turn [4sts]

Row 5: 1ch (does not count as st), miss 1st st, 1htr in next and each to last st, 2htr in last st, turn [4sts]

Row 6: 2ch (counts as 1htr), 1htr in st at base of 2ch, 1htr in each st to end, turn [5sts]

Rows 5 and 6 form the pattern and are repeated until your shawl is the desired size.

Use a hook size slightly larger than you would use for the yarn weight – for example try 3.5mm with 4ply/fingering/sock yarn or 4.5mm for DK yarn.

Just keep changing the stripes of yarn as you go, and keep sharing photos on Facebook and Ravelry.

On your hooks……go!

Happy crocheting xx

NOTE: pattern and photographs ©Valerie Bracegirdle 2019

 

Just to whet your appetite ……….

Happy crocheting xxx

If you are a regular reader of this blog you will know that I have been working hard to ‘control’ my stash of precious yarn.  I was inspired by Lynne Rowe’s Use it or Lose it campaign last year which encouraged me to review my shelves and cupboards and develop a strategy to use the yarn stash I had collected.  I now feel I have my stash under control.  It is still a good-sized precious collection of yummy yarn, from vintage Natural Dye Studio to Triskelion Yarn, and the majority are completely natural fibres as I have also been working on reducing plastic in my life (and plastic means acrylic and nylon yarn as well).   But it all fits in one trunk!

OK, it’s a deep trunk (and messy!) and finding what I need involves a lot of digging, but that is a pleasure.

One of the ways I have been working on reducing the stash is by keeping a clear record of what I have, so when I want to make something I can refer to the record and I’m not afraid to change my plans if I find I don’t have quite the right yarn in my stash.   My record is a spreadsheet and it shows me brand, name of yarn, weight of yarn (DK, 4ply, lace etc), weight of skeins/balls, length of skeins/balls (in metres) and colour.  When I first started this spreadsheet (June last year) I had 154 skeins/balls of yarn; I now have 97.  You may think that means I have used 57, but I have treated myself to new yarn on occasion, so more than 57 have been ‘consumed’.  But I have an aim to get down to 80 or less by the end of the year, so if I am to allow myself the odd new purchase then I do need to find inspiring designs to help me use it.    And, of course, new designs includes designs of my own – and I have one that is almost ready to publish.

Stashaway is a lovely easy shawl that I find works up very quickly.  It is an asymmetrical triangle shape.  I designed it in 4ply yarn, but it can be made in any weight.  I also designed it to use a variety of colours, in fact I had 3 half skeins of my favourite colours in mind.  I enjoyed making it so much that I made 2, and I have a 3rd ready to start.  The joy of this design is that it can be made in one colour, or 2 or more colours in a variety of stripes.  It’s a solid design, no lace required, and after the first few rows it becomes easy to remember the 2 row repeat.  My first shawl used 3 colours in varying widths of stripes and the colours repeated throughout (I enjoyed stopping to decide when and which colour to use next); my second shawl used a set of 5 mini skeins which I used in order and just changed once each skein ran out.  My third one will be different again!  I’m using this:

This is Artesano yarn from ‘deep’ stash – 2x50g skeins of Alpaca Silk 4ply in Violet Blue and 1x50g skein of Alpaca Blend 4ply in Lemon Grove, in total 600m.

To encourage others to keep using their stash I decided to publish the basic pattern free here on the blog, with a paid pattern including a chart on Ravelry and LoveCrafts.  And then I thought: why have a ‘use it or lose it’?   So are you up for it?  Would you like to join me in a CAL?

I will publish the pattern in a week, meanwhile if you want to join me in a CAL then you need to start searching your stash – look for at least 150g of ANY weight of yarn (just as long as it is all the same weight).  As a guide, approx 150g/600m of 4ply/sock/fingering yarn will make a shawl about 180cm long by 35cm at the widest part (that’s 71″ by 14″).

The CAL will be hosted in my Ravely group and photos can be shared there or on my facebook page.

I’m looking forward to this CAL, I do hope you join in ……….you may find this shawl a bit addictive like I have!

Happy crocheting xx