Stylecraft Blog Tour 2017 - The Learn To Knit Shawl

Hooray! Hooray! 

It's another day of the awesome STYLECRAFT blogstars blog tour and it's my turn.

If you've been keeping track of the tour, then you'll already know that yesterday it was the talented Sandra from Cherry Heart and tomorrow it's the fabulous Lucia from  Lucia’s Fig Tree (I cannot wait to see what she's been up to).

This year's brief was to work with a 10-ball yarn pack, which contains 4 balls of the-new-kid-on-the-block, Batik Elements (a gorgeous variegated yarn) along with 6 coordinating colours from its sister range, Batik.

Lagoon: 4 x Krypton, 1 each of Lupin, Sage, Teal, Storm, Silver and Indigo

There are four colour packs available and I chose Lagoon: I'm always drawn to these kinds of colours.

But what to make?

Now those of you who regularly read my posts will know that something is very wrong here...

... These photos clearly show a knitted thing and I am not really a knitter. 

And you're right, but that's where the Batik came in - because I'd seen an idea for a shawl using a simple combination of garter stitch and stockinette stitch and thought the yarn would be absolutely perfect. 

I had decided THIS would be the shawl that would teach me to knit.

I changed the pattern - the original created an isosceles triangle, with increases on both sides, but I wanted a right-angle, with the increases on just one side and with larger bands of increasing colours, too. 

And do you know what, I love it; Sure enough, my stitches were decidedly dodgy to start off with and my needle hold was awkward, but as I progressed through the shawl, so my tension improved and the yarn fed through my fingers more smoothly and everything neatened out.

 

And the yarn?

It's lovely to work with. I've crocheted a shawl for Inside Crochet Magazine (Issues 92, 93, 94) with it and it's bouncy and soft and warm - (that's the 20% Wool content). And the same can be said for knitting with it; Simply gorgeous.

 

But before we get to the pattern, how would you like to win a Lagoon yarn pack??

Simply enter the competition HERE for your chance to win.

(Giveaway open from 10am GMT 20th October 2017 and closes 10am GMT 21st October 2017. Winner drawn at random and notified by email.)

So let's get to it. The original pattern is called 'Sonnensegel' by Ulrikestrickt and can be found for free HERE.

A note about my pattern:

It is not perfect; It is not meant to be. I forgot to use one of the colours in Part One and I reckon on some of the rows, I forgot to increase, too.

This pattern is easy and forgiving:  Perfect for learning to knit.

The Learn-To-Knit Shawl

 

If you're a beginner knitter, then here's what you'll need to know:

How to cast on

How to knit

How to purl

How to increase (kfb)

How to cast off

Size: 88cms x 145cms (longest edge)

You will need:

The Lagoon yarn pack

Size 4.5mm / 100cm circular needles

Increasing stitches. 

Increasing is carried out (as a Knit Front and Back) on the right-facing side of every knit row in both Garter and Stockinette sections, starting at the first section A*, EXCEPT on every first row where you have changed colour.
To increase: simply K1, increase 1 (kfb), then knit across the rest of the row.

Pattern

Part One:

All sections are 6 rows

The Garter stitch rows (B) will always be in Krypton. 

The Stockinette stitch sections (A) will repeat the same colour twice.

Cast on 3 stitches with Krypton

Knit 6 rows

A*: Change to Teal and knit 1 row, purl 1 row for 6 rows (Stockinette Stitch) *Start the increases

B: Change to Krypton and knit 6 rows (Garter Stitch)

A: Continue in Teal and Stockinette stitch for 6 rows

Work in pattern (Section B, Section A), changing to Indigo, Storm, Lupin, and Silver for 2 sections each, ending with a section of Garter stitch in Krypton

Part 2:

All sections are 8 rows

The Garter stitch rows (B) will always be in Krypton. 

The Stockinette stitch sections (A) will repeat the same colour three times.

Work in pattern (Section A, Section B), changing to Teal, Indigo, Sage, Storm, Lupin, and Silver for 3 sections each, ending with a section of Garter stitch in Krypton.

Cast off loosely and block lightly.

Oh goodness, I hope that makes some degree of sense. If it's your first knitted shawl, then good luck and I hope you enjoy making it. If you're a pro, then please excuse my novice knitter's mistakes and enjoy the pattern, too.

If you'd like to see what my Stylecraft blog pals are up to, then you can find them here:

Crafternoon Treats, The Twisted Yarn, Patchwork Heart, Hand knitted Things, Keep Calm and Crochet on; Catherine’s Crochet Corner,  Zooty Owl, Attic 24, Janie Crow, Crochet Between Worlds, Get Knotted Yarn Craft, and Crochet Between Worlds.

Have a fab weekend,
Sarah xx

Stylecraft Visit 2017 (Part 2)

Yarn... Lovely, new yarn.

All crocheters and knitters love the stuff and it's always exciting when a favourite manufacturer releases additional colours, or a new range. On my recent visit to the Stylecraft Mill as one of their Blogstars (read Part 1 here) it was with great anticipation that we watched the Autumn/Winter presentation to see the new yarns.

This has to be my favourite image from the presentation - just look at this stunning crocheted blanket and cushion, designed by the clever Annelies Baes. It's made with some of the new colours in the Life DK range and is just a beauty.

Here's some of my new faves:

First up, it's a new yarn called Tweedy. (100g / 260m) This is a really bright and cheery double-knit yarn, made from 74% premium acrylic and 26% cotton. Just four shades available at the mo - love the subtle mix of colours.

Next, there's colour additions to the already super-popular Head over Heels sock yarn, as well as a variation called Boho, which includes funky stripes of black and white.

The Batik yarns (my current yarn-crush - see below) have also enjoyed some colour additions, and also a whole new range:

 

The Batik Elements - a variagated blend of colours in the same 50g /138m 80% Acrylic /20% Wool blend as the solids.

Here's a little peek of something I'm working on with this amazing green 'Kryptonite'..

 

AND in super-exciting news, my latest CAL (crochet-a-long) design for Inside Crochet magazine uses the Batik solids, too. I chose four complemetary shades to create a gorgeously cosy shawl, which will be perfect for the Autumn. 

The Batik yarn was such a good choice for this project - it's soft and bouncy and the stitch definition is superb. I think it would work in any combination of colours you fancied.

Photo Credits to Mavric Photography / Inside Crochet Issue 92

Find the pattern for the first part of the mystery shawl in Issue 92. Sections 2 and 3 will be in the following issues of the magazine.

I'm tempted to make another version using some of the Batik Elements, or perhaps the Tweedy, but I really must get on with all my other projects, first... (more on those in my next post)

Find out more about the Stylecraft Yarns Blogstars here.

Wishing you a great week,

Sarah xx

A whole load of new yarn

Lucky me!
The postman has been a busy bee, delivering lots of new yarny goodness.

Watch the Youtube tutorial below (or click here )to see close-ups of the yarn and find the show notes with details below.

Have a great week,

Sarah x

Episode 5: The one with all the new yarn. 

Show notes

Yarn: 

Stylecraft Special Dk in Vintage Peach, Buttermilk and Mushroom - 100g / 100% Acrylic

Stylecraft Classique Cotton 4-ply 50g / 100% Cotton

Stylecraft Mystique 50g / 70% Polyester/ 30% Viscose

Stylecraft Head Over Heels Sock Yarn  in Sugarloaf and Etna 100g / 75% Superwash wool / 25% Nylon

Stylecraft Wondersoft Merry-go-round DK in Pastel Rainbow and Dark Rainbow 100g / 100% Acrylic 

Stylecraft Candy Swirl DK in Apple Sour 150g / 100% Acrylic

Bilum PukPuk yarn

Scheepjes Whirl in Slice 'O Cherry Pie 225g / 60% Cotton /40% Acrylic

Blog post with shawl started in Head Over Heels here

Ombre Shawl from Inside Crochet Issue 87

Sheep from Inside Crochet Issue 88

 

A trip to Stylecraft Yarns

Right back at the beginning of this month, I was invited back up to the Stylecraft Mill in Yorkshire with my fellow blogstars.

Hooray!!!

Here we all are, looking very happy indeed.

From left: Jane from Janie Crow, Phil from The Twisted Yarn, Me, Heather from The Patchwork Heart, Julia from Hand Knitted Things, Lucy from Attic 24, Helen from The Woolly Adventures of a Knitting Kitty, Emma from Emma Varnham, Sandra from Cherry Heart, Lucia from Lucia's Fig Tree and Kathryn from Crafternoon Treats

In fact, we are not all here - two of the gang joined us via Skype from the other side of the globe and so couldn't be in the pic.

Can you see them? They're right at the end of the table in laptop form, Skyping us from afar: Angela from Get Knotted Yarn Craft and Zelna from Zooty Owl

The trip involved an amazing visit to the Guild of Knitting and Crochet, where we were shown the most beautiful samples from the Guild's archives (a blog post for another day, methinks).

We were also shown the new ranges of Stylecraft yarns, and talked about all things knitting, crochet and blogging, too.

Check out my YouTube video for a closer look at some of the yarns:

We even had a Tunisian Crochet workshop - have you tried it before?

Here's my little attempt - it's a really intersting technique - something I'd like to try again. 

 

And beautiful blankets made by Lucia and Heather were shared and much admired.

Heather's Blanket - Pattern details here

Lucia's Blanket  - Pattern details here

The Stylecraft sheep looking very dapper

It was the most brilliant weekend - a great opportunity to chat and share ideas with like-minded souls.

I'm already looking forward to my next visit in July. 

Wishing you all a great week,

Sarah xx

Stylecraft Giveaway WINNERS!!

.

Yes, its time!

I've counted the votes and employed one of those random-number-generator-thingies to choose me some WINNERS!

Yay!

If you're a winner, then please leave a comment below (it won't be published) with full details of your postal address.

The UK winner is: Faerie - well done, lovely gal. You've won £25 in vouchers to spend in a yarn shop on squidgey balls of Stylecraft.

UK 2nd place is Ros Burrage. Well done, Ros - it's £15 for you. 

UK 3rd pace is Anna Ridley - hooray, Anna. £10 is all yours.

And not forgetting my wonderful overseas readers - a package of Stylecraft goodies will be flying across the seas to Zen in Australia!

A big THANKYOU to everyone who entered and 'hello' to any new followers!

Don't forget to subscribe via email to receive all my posts straight to your inbox. I've got lots of new patterns to launch and there'll be more giveaways, too.

Have a fab week,

Sarah xx