Finished object file: Campside Shawl | Nunnaba Artisan Yarn Gradient

One of the great knitting moments in life are when you finish a project and it becomes an immediate favourite wardrobe item. My recently finished Campside Shawl designed by Alicia Plummer is one of those items. I have been wearing this shawl a lot and it's just a delight.

The pattern for this shawl was offered as a free pattern on the Pom pom Magazine blog about a year ago and you can access it here. The post also shares Alicia's story of what inspired her in the design for this shawl. Campside is reminiscent of her childhood summers spent at a family cabin. For her the pattern connects with her memories of comfort, warmth and shelter. It is a deeply personal story but one that resonates with all and when I wear my Campside I feel wrapped in soft comforting wool and it warms my heart.

The pattern has a few issues making it challenging to follow but nothing that an experienced knitter can't work out. It only has charts for the eyelet lace pattern and sometimes the lack of written instructions can leave you making some deductive leaps with the knitting. Basically there are some points in the charts where you could deduce that an extra eyelet and decrease is missing but you can also knit it as charted too and it doesn't really affect the overall look of the shawl. I figured at the end of the day, this was offered as a free pattern, I shouldn't get too uppety about errors. 

For this great wardrobe staple I used some deliciously soft high micron merino from White Gum Wool that had been hand dyed by Nunnaba Artisan Yarn into a gradient colourway called 'Blue Jay'. When I ordered this yarn I requested that the gradient colours be spread over the 300g as a long gradient. I didn't want to receive 3 skeins of standard gradient dyed yarn because that would make a bigger project slightly more challenging. 

When a gradient comes in a single skein all the colour transitions are contained in that single length of yarn. This poses the challenge of finding the perfect pattern to match with the yarn; where all colours will be utilized. If you find a small project that requires approximately the same yardage as one skein of the yarn then perfect, you'll get all the colours and no leftovers. However, when you do this you might find yourself limited to small projects like kids garments or hats because you won't have enough yardage to make anything bigger. 

Over time I have figured out a few ways to work larger projects with gradients, so here are my suggestions. One way is to alternate skeins of the gradient and depending of how many skeins you are prepared to juggle you can double, triple, (or even more) your yardage. 

Another idea is to add on skeins of the trim colour. The trim when a dyer offers a semi solid colourway that is the same as the outside colour of the gradient skein. When knitting, you get to the end of the gradient but need more yardage you can continue knitting in the trim colour so that the colour transition is not interrupted. 

If the trim option is not available you can just use the gradient as a feature and then finish off the pattern with a neutral colour. For example Kelly Brooker's Conscious pattern is designed with gradients in mind. The yoke can be knit out of a gradient and then the rest of the pullover is finished off with something else.

Then lastly, there is what I did with my Campside project; specifically ordering a long gradient so that the colours were spread across the whole 300g of yarn. It made knitting this shawl so much easier because I had one large cake of yarn to knit through that needed no alternating or changing of colours. 

There is so much to love about this shawl and I must say the result is exactly what I wanted. What I have achieved here has helped me be less afraid of working with gradients and given me many ideas for how to tackle similar projects in the future.

What experience do you have with knitting with gradient yarns? Have you tackled the challenges differently? Do share your thoughts and tips.

What to knit Wednesday: Essential Winter Accessories

I'm keeping rugged up to keep out the winter chill.

When I look at the forecast for next week and seeing a series of 13 degree Celsius days for Melbourne my mind is instantly starting to work out how I am going to wool up to stay warm. My key woollen accessories are cowls, mitts, beanies and shawls and this year I am desperately wanting some handknit socks to keep my tootsies warm. My top 5 today are patterns that I have in my wardrobe or I want to add in the near future.

Image source: Purl Soho

1. Big Herringbone Cowl by Purl Soho.

For me a cowl is essential and this cowl has been on my wishlist for ages. I can see that it is designed by Purl Soho with the New York winters in mind because it is a grand long loop that can be wrapped multiple times around the neck. There is no way that the chill can get through this cowl. I also love the classic style of the herringbone stitch.

As a free pattern on their blog it is easily adapted for different yarn weights and yardages. I will probably not make it as big as the designed size but one large enough to wrap around my neck twice would be a perfect cosy accessory for me.

Can never have too many of these angora/lambswool gloves.

2. Fingerless gloves by Penelope Durston.

Not exactly a handknit but these gloves are the bomb. Penelope Durston is a Melbourne maker and designer who hand dyes these beautiful angora and lambswool blend gloves herself and sells them in her Fitzroy shop, Cottage Industry. I came across these gloves many years ago, probably after reading a Frankie Magazine and I instantly loved the vibrant colours and the delicious softness. 

I must confess that I own too many pairs of these and at least one of each of the lengths (hand, wrist and elbow length). Sadly I have lost a couple of pairs over time and I can't stop myself from buying replacements. They range from $45-$60 and are so worth it.

I love the cable panel on this hat.

3. Rosebud Hat by Jared Flood.

I wrote about this hat recently in a finished object post. It turned out much bigger than the designed sized because I did not follow gauge, but it is so cosy. The Road to China Worsted yarn from The Fiber Company is so soft and undoubtedly the cashmere, camel, alpaca and silk blend is the reason behind this. On those bitingly cold mornings this has been my go to hat this winter.

4. Pure by cabinfour.

When I purchased 300g of Ton of Wool Cormo I decided to turned this beautiful wool into this shawl. Pure is a subtly textured triangular shawl that will look perfect with the undyed cream cormo wool. The shawl is designed to represent it's name; pure, clean, unmixed and plain. The aran weight cormo is super squishy and is so cosy to touch. I just know it will turn into a wonderfully warm shawl.

5. Elementary Watson Socks by Sherry Menton.

I chose these socks because I am a fan of the BBC 'Sherlock' series. The cable pattern was inspired by the cabled jumper that Martin Freeman's Doctor Watson character wore in the first season. The nerdy part of me will take pleasure in making and wearing these cute socks and I'll also appreciate being able to keep my cold feet warm too.

Stay warm this winter if you're in the southern hemisphere like I am. 

Finished object file: Bella Shawl

Bella Shawl: off the needles, blocked and ends woven in.

Last week I posted about the commissioned knit that I have been working on. The friend who I have been knitting this Bella Shawl for has been so gracious and patient; never putting pressure on me to quickly finish the project. Well it is with great joy that I have got the project off the needles, blocked, ends weaved in and ready to go to its lovely recipient.

An asymmetrical beauty.

I really enjoyed knitting this project because it was simple enough to memorise but the eyelet lace and asymmetrical direction of the shawl gave it a little bit more to keep my interest. It was something I could take bundle it up and take it around witnh me as a project on the go  and since I memorised the pattern I didn't need to look up the pattern whenever I was out and about.

I purchased 5 skeins of Louisa Harding Grace Hand dyed DK and that gave me approximately 500 metres of yarn to make a medium sized shawl. I made sure to use up as much yarn as possible since my friend was  paying for the skeins and I didn't want to have a substantial amount remaining. I knit 12 squares of eyelet lace on the left hand side of the shawl and added an extra garter ridge on the end of the right hand eyelet panel and this left me with only a few metres of yarn remaining.

The simple yet elegant eyelet lace edge.

The Louisa Harding yarn is a delightfully squishy and shiny single ply yarn. It is a beautiful variegated yarn of pinks and reds of berry tones. There is a little bit of colour variation between the skeins which the yarn label clearly warns about. It is recommended that skeins be alternated every couple of rows during knitting. I initially tried doing this and ended up starting the shawl three times. The first time I cast on I began alternating the skeins at a RS row but because the eyelet fringe is cast off after a set of 7 eyelets it meant that I would have to cut the yarn that I was alternating after each square. So, I frogged it and decided to try alternating the skeins at a WS row and that meant that I was carrying the yarn up the neck edge. I was doing this knit about 10 cms of the piece and decided I didn't like the look of the edge with this yarn being carried up while I was alternating between 2 skeins. So, third time I cast on I decided to just knit each skein up before changing to the next one. The variation is not too obvious in my humble opinion.

The merino silk blend was lovely to work with; it was smooth on the needles and not splitty at all which I was a bit afraid of since it is a singly ply yarn. The silk content gives the piece a beautiful drape and the merino in it helps it hold its shape. The yarn also held up well after frogging it 3 times but I did need to do it carefully otherwise it would snag and stick. Overall I think it is a lovely yarn base and the colours are delicious but it is a yarn that needs some care if frogging.

I am pleased with the results of this Bella Shawl and I am happy with the workmanship for this commission. I actually knit this without mistakes, not meaning I didn't make any because I did, but I did carefully back knit and fix anything that was wrong since I was making this on commission.

All ready to go.

So, there it is a Bella Shawl for a bella friend.

What to knit Wednesday: Shawls

The 'Mara' shawl is a great staple wardrobe item

It's time for another 'What to knit Wednesday' post and today I thought I would talk shawls because I was recently asked by a church friend to knit a shawl for her - a commissioned project. To be honest I have only ever completed 2 shawls and I currently have one in the works but here are some patterns that I love.

1. You can't go past the classic style of the Mara shawl. This is a free Madelinetosh pattern that is designed for DK weight yarn but gauge is not as important with shawls so you can easily adapt it for another yarn weight without needing to swatch.

I knit it with the suggested yarn and followed the guide, buying 3 skeins of Madelinetosh Tosh DK. I must have misread my measurements because I ran out of yarn to bind off and had to patch it with some scrap yarn of a similar colour but the same weight.

Regardless, I love this shawl and I love this yarn. It's simple garter stitch pattern makes it a perfect everyday item and a staple of my wardrobe.

I knit this Hyla Brook for my mum last Christmas

2. The second shawl that I knit was for my mum last Christmas. I knit her a 'Hyla Brook' designed by Paula Emons-Fuessle using some Quince & Co. Tern. However, I was short of 2 skeins so the shawl turned out more like a shawlette. I love this pattern because even though it is a fingering weight knit it worked up pretty quickly with an easily memorised pattern. Another great thing about this pattern is that Paula has also created a checklist to help keep track of row counts and the percentage completed. So, because I didn't have a full 2 skeins I could use the checklist to track how far from the end I was and judge whether I needed to cast off early since I was running out of yarn.

3. On my needles right now is a 'The Age of Brass and Steam' shawl by Orange Flower Yarn. I'm pairing this with 1 skein of Australian independent dyer, Augustbird's gradient 8ply. This is my third attempt to use this yarn because it is not easy to find a pattern that will showcase a gradient yarn best. I'm hoping that this shawl will be a good pattern because according to Ravelry it only needs up to 240 yards/ 219 metres of DK weight yarn. 1 skein of the Augustbird 8ply has 258 yards/ 236 metres so theoretically when I knit up this shawl I will be able to go through each of the gradient colour transitions.

Augustbird White Gum Wool 8ply in 'Allegro' colourway and the pattern for the 'Bella' shawl in the background

4. I initially hoped to use the gradient yarn to knit a 'Bella' shawl. I even got so far as casting on and knitting the first 20 rows or so before I realised that this pattern was not knitting this shawl top down but actually starting at the bottom left hand corner and knitting across. I decided to frog it because I didn't want my gradient going diagonally up from the left hand corner. What I needed was a top down pattern for a triangle shawl if I wanted to maximise the visual effect of the gradient.

However, all is not wasted with this pattern. When I gave my friend some shawl patterns to choose from she has chosen this 'Bella' pattern. So, I'm quite excited that I will still be able to knit this and learn some new techniques while I'm being commissioned to make it.

5. My fifth shawl pattern is Alicia Plummer's 'Campside' pattern. She designed this as a free pattern for Pompom magazine's blog last year and it is a generous sized triangle shawl that incorporates 3 different lace eyelet designs. I wanted to knit this with the gradient yarn but it needs a whopping 780 yards/ 713 metres of DK weight yarn and that meant I would need 3 skeins of the Augustbird gradient. I wanted the gradient to transition once through each colour so that meant that I would have to keep alternating the three skeins every couple of rows and I in the end I was turned off by how cumbersome that was going to be.

Some 'Bubbles Darling'

For now I have queued this project and I think I might knit it up with the 2 skeins of 'Bubbles Darling' Red Riding Hood Yarns that I picked up at the Nunnaba birthday sale.

As you can see I've got some shawl knitting ahead of me. You may think when am I going to wear all these shawls but I'm starting to see a correlation between being a yarn addict and a shawl addict - it's a bit of a reoccurring trend in many of the other crafty/ knitterly bloggers that I follow.

What are your favourite shawl patterns?

I also have 2 skeins of the Augustbird gradient left after I knit the 'Brass and Steam' shawl, so, please share your pattern suggestions for gradients too.