Weekly update with some pairing fun!

This weeks shop update is LIVE! I moved back to a bit of cool blue/greens as that side of the colour wheel is still very close to my heart. I’ve also gotten some camel/silk lace up this week for those looking to do a little lace knitting (and maybe even starting on those special holiday gifts!).

From left to right in the banner above:

1. Westminster lace in ‘Alban‘ – 50% Baby Camel • 50% Silk
2. Westminster fingering in ‘Light Grovesnor‘ – 50% Baby Camel • 50% Silk
3. Westminster fingering in ‘Florence‘ – 50% Baby Camel • 50% Silk

As some of you already know, a few months ago I made a Camomille by Helga Isager and have been wearing it to death. It is  the perfect light shawl – large enough to wrap several times around the neck on a cold morning, blissfully super warm from the gorgeous BFL/Alpaca light fingering, but at the same time light enough to fold up small and shove into a bag.

I have had a few requests for the yarn I used in the shawl and have finally had a chance to dye some up, so these will be going up on the shop this week as well.

I also had a long talk with myself (!) and will be releasing some of the hoarded blush BFL/Alpaca as I used in my version above and have dyed more of the camel/silk lace in charcoal grey, which I’ve named ‘Colebrooke‘. A beautifully dimensional grey, this colour has hints of purple and warm browns up close:

I thought it might be fun to show some possible pairings for subtle shawl striping. Below are some pink/grey pairings.

 
The right hand pair shows the Westminster ‘Colebrooke‘ & blush BFL/Alpaca, ‘Liminal‘,  pair I used in mine, the left is a reverse with ‘Napier‘ – pink/grey/purple- in Westminster lace and a semi solid grey in BFL/Alpaca.

As I was researching images for this post I also came across this stunning image, which at first I assumed was another Camomile…
….but it turns out that Christina’s gorgeous, Camomile-like version is of Elise Dupont’s Merlot crescent shawl pattern (available as a €5 download on Ravelry). Christina has simply striped her solid and variegated yarn above, as opposed to alternating holding the fingering yarn together with the lace, as on Camomile. Any of the yarn pairings I’ve shown here would work for this look.

Though if you prefer,  you could always knit it exactly as Elise designed it, which has beautiful blocks of variegated colour broken up by solid stripes and trim. So pretty!

More paring possibilities, below left, both Westminster – Lace in ‘Colebrooke‘ and fingering in ‘Florence‘ for a more silky/drapey version. On the right another one with ‘Florence‘, but this time with the amazing Bloomsbury silk lace in silver/grey ‘Dusty Miller‘.

Of course there are many more combos to be made from the yarns in the shop, but I’d best stop here as this has become an epic post! If you have any questions about yarn pairing don’t hesitate to drop me a line.

Advertisement

Knitting (k)nirvana

Do you know that feeling of reading a book but not wanting it to end? That sense of wanting to stay in a world you’ve been part of – a collaboration built from the author’s words and your imagination that has fleshed out a story you just don’t want to put down – even though you can see those precious remaining pages slowly dwindling away? So you start to put the book down more often and find other things to do, stretching out the painful pangs of impending separation a little bit longer…?

That is how I am feeling about my Camomile.

I am so close to being finished this one, but have been finding myself dragging my heels at the last little bit because I just don’t want it to end. Is that sad?

This one has been such a breezy knit and the yarn combination such a lush pleasure to handle and work with that I found myself casting on for my first socks instead of finishing this off…and then immediately started a second pair in active denial!! (I think I understand sock addiction now, by the way. Quick, satisfying and a small canvas for trying out new stitches!)

This is definitely the most luxurious thing I have made yet.

Alas, I finished the lace yesterday and am now just procrastinating on the tassels. Sigh. Separation anxiety already.

;-?

On a more cheerful note – another huge thank you to Gail for bailing me out, yet again, with some knitting help. This time with my serious aversion to kitchener stitch. How sweet is this…she filmed a tutorial for me!!  I have been following another tutorial since I started and now realise that the set up rows were missing and that is likely why I have been having so much trouble with the technique. Or so I hope. I will be trying Gail’s tutorial out on my second sock heels tomorrow.

Fingers crossed.

A little sunshine

A little sunshine on this rainy day.

Stolen moments in a park from crinkled, juicy vibrance…

… to a gently silvered patina.
Have a good weekend, all.

Camomille – comfort tea in a shawl

Enter stage left new project. The gorgeous Camomille by Helga Isager.

Alternating rows of doubled fingering/lace yarn with rows of single lace creates a lovely, light and airy  textural contrast that is knit up to a large, cozy shawl…and then has the magic element – TASSELS! These take the shawl to Frida-esque heights for me by giving it a subtle bit of Mexican flavoured panache that I have been craving since re-watching the movie Frida a few weeks ago!

The pattern I actually have in The Bird Collection book is the Dunlin shawl for children, shown below. But I can’t see a difference (can you?) so will just make it larger! This will be a shawl I can cozy up in on chilly summer evenings.

I have been planning this shawl for a few months  after seeing Leila’s jaw-dropping example on Ravelry.
She not only did a beautiful job matching her yarns, but added a lovely detail of these turquoise ceramic beads on the gorgeously fat tassels. So perfect.

I’ve decided to go halfway between the one colour version and the two-tone Dunlin version on mine, but with less contrast between the grey and pink and a titch darker overall. I  dyed up some beautiful BFL/Silk light fingering in a delicate blush almost-pink and a silky soft but weighty Baby Camel/Silk in a deep metallic pewter for this one.

I can’t tell you how good this combo feels. I have never knit anything quite so…exquisite. The BFL/Alpaca is a light, fluffy almost weightless yarn while the Baby camel/Silk gives it drape, depth and the most gorgeous shimmer. Combining the two makes a lofty/drapey hand that I just can’t really describe, but is oh-so yummy!

This combo is such a pleasure to knit I am having a hard time finishing my Buttercup! I just don’t want to put this one down. Especially as I am doing more odious twisted stich ribbing for the Buttercup and it is painful! Not least because I have done the bottom hem twice to get the tension right. Gack.

I haven’t yet decided if I will finish the final lace row with the glowing pewter silk, or the softer blush yet. Figure it will come to me the closer I get to finishing, right?