Find Rain Shadow on Ravelry or on Etsy, whichever you prefer to shop!
I have been working on a year long Blanket Square project. Threads of Colour – a Year in Squares, each month a different square in a different stitch pattern and each month a “fancy”, a little extra something.
The April Square featured this stitch and once knit, I couldn’t stop thinking about making it up as a shawl. This is the result.
Rain Shadow shawl is a classic top-down triangular shawl with a twist. The Rain Shadow pattern is a ribbing pattern, with YO and bead details. The ribbing pattern and garter st details make the shawl totally reversible. As well, the pattern is mirrored from one side to the other giving extra movement to the lines of the rib. The shawl as shown has been beaded with size 6/0 beads. The beads are optional.
Almost classic – the increases along the sides and center line are a little faster than the average triangle shaping. There are six increases in every 10 rows of pattern.
Rain Shadow is both written and charted.
The yarn is Soft Silk, by BC Garn. A gorgeously blue bourette silk. And the beads are 6/0 beads by Miyuki.
The Wool Room …
… needs organization!
This is where it started, beautiful, clean, and empty!
A lot of organization.
On the up side to all of this – the storage locker is empty!
What kind of organization do you use for your stash – yarn, fabric, any kind of needle craft! Are you a neat and tidy type – or more on the disorganization side of thing. Right now I am strictly disorganized!
I am working on changing that. It is a slow process because knitting is still my priority. I will keep you up to date on my successes and failures!
Like the small stacks of boxes in every room that I am slowly going through! Now that I have time to open and check them. We have taken stacks of boxes to recycle places, the dump and book sales. I have donated some yarn to my daughters stash. So the cull is ongoing and closer to almost complete as opposed to just starting.
We love our new space already. I will show pictures as we clear and tidy each space!
And I am knitting up a storm or two!
Happy Knitting
Lynette
PS – Remember – there is a code included in the June Square download to purchase Rain Shadow from Ravelry at 50% off.
Gorgeous Roses in the Old City Quarter Neighbourhood!
My last few posts have all focused around the the Make-A-Blanket project. Getting the first couple of squares up and available, using them to describe some of the possibilities for blanket construction, setting up the start of the design process for all the knitters involved.
Hopefully getting everyone, including myself thinking forward to what they/I want to do with our squares. At the same time as all that it going on …The rest of life keeps on happening!
Now I am focusing on the Winter/Spring Class session. Also my designing. I haven’t felt much like lace knitting lately but I think that is changing. I have a couple of big projects to finish! My Lace Dress and the GreenMan Shawl still need to be finished. Those are going to be done this year!
Projects for the classes at Mad About Ewe are all under construction or ready for the class.
Current projects for the classes, the Twinned Mittens and Socks on Circs are class ready, but not completed yet. That will happen during and after the classes.
I did a swatch to display for the Puffy Vest, and I am currently knitting the first piece. I am really pleased with the way it is knitting up. Right now it looks like a cozy cowl! The thrums make it so bright and colourful!
You can see the swatch for the puffy vest, the Twinned Knit Mitten sample and Socks on Circs at Mad About Ewe, hanging up behind the counter if you want to check things out! All of the classes are up on the website as well!
And there are always future projects!
Like the Chintz Hap I have started knitting.
Last fall I went to the Chintz exhibit at the RBCM and it inspired me in so many ways! The history, the colours and the shapes of some of the motifs really made my sit up and take notice. I want to take those shapes and colours and knit them into one of my favourite shawl shapes – the Shetland Hap! I am working on the center square right now. I am loving the center so far and once the border and edging are complete… In my head it is gorgeous!
I am working with B.C.Garn Loch Lomond Lace! The colours are perfect for this. I may need to add that warm creamy tone, but that is still under consideration.
So life is busy at work, and in my designing and it looks like things are about to get busy around the house as well!
We downsized last year and have been waiting to get the kitchen and few areas around our new home renovated. And it is all about to start! And with my yarn room! Can I say that I am somewhat excited!
The yarn room won’t be big once finished, around 7.5 by 7.5 square feet! But it will be all mine! With shelves and storage and even room for my Grandson to come and visit.
I have it all planned out! The Daybed is for my grandson to sleep on, with a light and small bookcase for his books it will be perfect for me to block my knitting on. It is also right by the window so I can check my yarn colours under the natural light!
One of my resolutions for this year was to be more forward thinking about my classes. So I am already thinking ahead to the Summer Classes. Something light and fun and under the sun in the courtyard. Maybe some beaded fingerless mitts in a really hot colour! What do you think?
Or maybe a light and airy lace scarf in something silky? Any suggestions?
Do you plan your knitting for the year ahead or are you a knit by the moment and yarn you discover?
In the meantime I certainly don’t lack for stuff to do! LOL!
I bet that you have lots of knitting options to as well!
I have cleaned and organized everything. OK – everything might be a bit over the top but I have accomplished a few very necessary jobs!
I have unearthed my computer desk and my yarn winding station. My stash has been realigned and in some cases reassigned to different locations. I have filed away multiple stacks of papers ie. trashed or recycled them. There is still one stack of papers left to organize into different files. That will wait until next weekend.
You can see that it is a bit of mess.
As I dug in, I got a little distracted along the way…. knit a thing…. wound some yarn.
The little cowl is a test knit of a new yarn that is coming to Mad About Ewe. And I love it! 70% Superfine Merino (non superwash) and 30% Yak, this DK weight yarn is supersoft, bouncy and easy to work with. I think I may need a new sweater. The Funnel Cowl and Mitts are complete. Click here to link to the pattern on Ravelry.
The yarn being wound is Chantal, a special hand dyed silk from Fleece Artist, Iceberg colourway. It was one of the yarns from their 25th Anniversary celebration in 2013. This huge hank weighs in at 350 grams, 700 yds and should knit to about 18 sts in 4 inches. I am close to half way now and it has no knots so far. Because it is silk and is stretchy it has to be hand-wound and it is a bit of a mess from being in the cupboard for so long. So it may take a couple of days.
I hung a few pictures that have been gracing the cupboard floors. That felt good. Everyday I have been trying to do one more thing that would get me closer to my goal.
There have been a few distractions through the week but after each one, I got back on track and kept on working. I started this project last Wednesday and it is still not quite done. It most likely will never be “done”. I really don’t work too well in a tidy space, but now the chaos is a little more tamed and much closer to “done” than it has been in a while.
My White Lavender it in full bloom.
I started this post over a month ago. So much has happened creatively in that month. Was it tied in to the cleaning? Maybe, so lets see….
I have submitted ideas for patterns to three companies – Laine, Birlinn Yarns and Ancient Arts. Laine and Birlinn were not interested in my ideas and I won’t hear from Ancient Arts for a couple of weeks. My “secret” project is complete and gone! As soon as I can I will share – I was very pleased with the results!
On the up side of submitting ideas to magazines and being rejected, I now have lots of ideas to pull from if and when I am looking for something to knit! I know we can’t like all the things and if my ideas don’t fit their vision they usually work well for mine!
Fall KAL – The Greenman KAL
I am working on a new shawl pattern. You may have noticed the two “swirl” centers I have started. They are the center of the Greenman Shawl. I hope to have the idea all pulled together in the next month, so please keep it in mind.
I am working one in Schoppel Zauber Lace Ball 100 (currently purple, but it is a striping yarn so that will change). It is a lace weight.
I am teaching a new technique at work right now. Dip Stitches, as in stitches that are created by dipping down into your knitting and pulling up loops of contrast colour to create almost an embroidery look! Meet Beach Bucket, soon to be released on Ravelry – most likely next weekend! The turquoise version is knit with Noro Kashirukuru and Silk Garden for the detail yarn. The grey version is knit with West Yorkshire Spinners The Croft Shetland Tweed in pink tweed with grey. It is not complete yet. I am using it for demonstrating techniques in the class.
I have started a couple of sweaters for myself – we will see how those go – they almost never get done as I get too distracted by other knits!
I am planning on picking up the dress again in September. Right now it is too hot to knit with double layer Lopi Einband on my lap! I have been thinking and planning how to proceed. I noticed that a few others look like they are interested! Looking forward to picking it up again.
I lived in Malaysia when I was much younger and I have many fond memories of the people and the country. One of my favourite memories is the hedges of Hibiscus flowers, such beautiful blooms. So every now and then I try to keep a plant alive with varying levels of success. This is this years attempt!
I hope that your Summer is going well. Mine is certainly going by very quickly! Lots of ideas and never enough time to knit them all!
Where to go next? My life has pretty much been on hold or in chaos for the last few months. I haven’t had the energy or time to do more than touch at the edges of any of my projects. But I think that is changing…
I still need to tidy my workroom – the chaos there really does mirror my mind. So today I am going to work around the edges and make a start. I am trying to convince myself that it not really as bad as it looks.
My main desk – computer and printer and lots of little bits!
So…. what does your workroom look like? Do you have a workroom? Or a corner on the couch? Do you work best in Chaos? Or are you a neat and tidy person, everything needs to be in place or your mind is distracted?
I know I work best in chaos! But not this much! Here I don’t know where anything or everything is! So time to fix it all!
Desk area beforeDesk area – getting there
So yesterday I made the start. I was wrong, it really is as bad as it looks. Today I worked a little more. In the pictures it really doesn’t look like a lot of improvement. But I can see and feel the difference. Books are on the shelves, samples are separated from stash and I can see what needs to be shifted and maybe even where it may be shifted to!
By next weekend it will be a new room! I must admit I am cheating a little, some of the stash has found a new location, but most of it is just going back to where it belongs.
Cupboard area – beforeCupboard area – getting there.
I am working on a new stitch pattern. Something a little different, a drawn stitch pattern, one that pulls yarn through stitches already knit to create a new pattern on top of the stockinette stitches. I am calling this stitch “Feathers”. I have seen something like this or maybe even this stitch online. The technique is familiar to me as I have worked drawn stitches before. My patterns Big Leaf Maple and Jacobean are both worked with drawn stitches.
Drawn stitches are a fabulous way to embellish your knitting. They can be worked on any weight of yarn and use up those bits of left over yarn that we collect as we finish bigger projects. The basic pattern will be written for Fingering weight, Worsted weight and Chunky weight yarns. I am going to create a great basic pattern that will create hats for the whole family!
Did I mention that beads might be a possibility!?
I umm, also fell in love with a baby bonnet idea I had and it has sort of high jacked the basic knitting until it is done – but it is going to be OH so cute!
