Rohdin

Sometimes I want to knit something especially intersting and challenging (read: alway!) and once in a while I want to work on something mellow and relaxing without giving it much thought. I surprised myself with the latter this time.

What: Rohdin / Own pattern

How: Circular needle 4.0 mm

From: Wishbone Flax Flower, 92+76 g

 

Rohdin is just that - a simple, understated shawl with not much happening. The shawl is arrow-shaped: it starts off in the sharp corner with increases worked at the edges. The hole at the bottom of the arrow is filled working short rows. To keep things just interesting enough, the shawl has contrast color stripes so it's ease to see your progress.

Finally, you'll pick up stitches at the bottom edges of the shawl and work a lace edging in the contrast color. You can block the sea shell lace straight or highlight the shape by placing your blocking needles at the yarn over holes of the last lace row - which is what I did with my sampel shawl.

Usually, when I design something simple it's all about the yarn. This was the case here as well. I picked up some Wishbone Flax Flower from Edinburgh Yarn Fest last spring. It's a single-ply combination of SW merino and linen. The name of shawl means flax in Finnish.

The linen gives crisp texture to the shawl as well as beautiful drape. The soft merino is a fun combination with the long fibers of the linen. And, especially in this deep ink color, the white linen fibers stand out beautifully.

You can find the pattern on Ravelry and use the code FLAX to get 25% introductory discount until  Saturday October 5th.

Hummingbird

Oh my, how time flies! A year ago, I was starting my very first MKAL and now, the second one is already gone. Did you finish your Hummingbird yet?

What: Hummingbird / Own pattern

How: Circular needles 3.75 mm

From: Twisted Fintch Singles + Lystig Merino Single + PetrichorYarns Merino Twist Sock, 71 + 75 + 72 g

I had a blast last year hosting my first mystery shawl knit-a-long. I knew right away that it would become a tradition for every fall.

People fell in love with last year's mystery, Shake it up and I had a lot of pressure to produce something equally lovely. I knew I wanted to use three colors, there would be garter stitch and brioche. But above all else, it should be something surprising and unexpected.

So Hummingbird starts at the center of the shawl. It begins with a magic circle cast on and you'll first work a triangle of garter stitch with a little one-color brioche stripe.

Next, you'll bind off the edge of the triangle and work two wings with short rows. The turning points of the short rows are left visible on purpose as they get to form pretty little eyelets between the sections.

After the wings, the shawl continues in a more traditional manner with brioche. The two-color brioche section is followed by one more set of wings - this time is seed stitch. And to keep it unpredictable, the wings are of different sizes.

Finally, you'll work two edges with each color and every corner will have a little brioche bit. The stitches are bound off in i-cord and you can use your yarn ends for pompoms.

What: Hummingbird / Own pattern

How: Circular needle 3.75 mm

From: Martin's Lab Merino Singles, 240 g

The shawl started off with a scetch. Once I was happy with the amount of surprise elements and the placement of colors, I went stash diving for my first sample. I weighted the yarns I used for the first shawl, counted the amount of stitches in each section and how much yarn those sections ate up. I like to leave as little waste yarn as possible so I calculated how much bigger I could make the shawl without running out of any color so that you wouldn't have to play a game of yarn chicken.

This year, I had yarn kits in my webshop. It was fun planning the color combos with Martin's lab and I asked for each kit to have a special color not found in their usual colorways

When the yarns arrived in the mail and I saw that one special color was called Anna, it was settled right there and then which kit I'd use to make another sample shawl. So now I have to Hummingbirds but they're so lovely I might keep them both!

There will be a new mystery next fall but before that we're going to have a meetup and a photoshoot for all the Hummingbirds. Please join me for the fun on October 12th at Nurja, the new LYS at Tampere. See you there!

Harmas

I a world where everything is covered with chemicals, true, fluffy wool is pure love. It's especially wonderful it is local and soft.

What: Harmas / Own pattern

How: Circular needle 3.75 mm

From: Rintalan tila Iivari 2ply, 380 g

Last fall, at the craft fair, I fell in love with this soft Kainuugrey wool yarn by a local farmer, Rintala sheep farm. The yarn was beautiful, undyed and smelled a bit sheepy - just the right amount. And, it was sport weight which is ideal for a light sweater.

And a sweater it became! Last spring, I started designing a new favorite sweater for next winter. It should have lots of positive ease to make it comfy and relaxed. I wanted the sweater to have a tall collar to keep the back of my neck warm. And it should definitely have nice texture to it. Lots of good things!

But above all else, I was visioning my new favorite sweater with extra long sleeves with folded cuffs and thumb openings. That way I wouldn't have to wear mittens for quick bursts out in the cold.

This all became Harmas. It's a boxy, a bit corpped sweater - no waist shaping. Most of the sweater is moss stitch with stockinette at the 'seams' - though it is of course seamless. The sleeves are raglan sleeves, and not only extra long but also have some positive ease to them. The cuffs are folded and bound off into place, and the thumb openings are finished off with few crochet stitches.

The sweater is topped off with a lush, tall collar. It's one-colored brioche, making it soft, crunchy and drapy all at once. And of course, the sweater is worked seamlessly top-down. The pattern includes sizes XXS-3XL and you can find it on Ravelry.

I made my sample back in the spring. I already thought that I'd have to wait until fall to get some pictures taken but one sunny and bright spring week ended with a blizzard. The trail along the river offered us a magical place for a photoshoot. Now, I'm just waiting for the temperatures to drop a bit so I can start wearing this again!

It might be just barely fall still but this is the perfect time to cast on if you wish to finish your sweater before it gets cold! Until Sunday September 22nd, you can get the pattern with an introductory 25% discount using the code KAINUUGREY.

Rakas

Sometimes I feel so romantic that I happen to designs socks with lace and beads on them. I guess that just happened.

What: Rakas / Own pattern

How: circular needle 2.0 mm

From: Vole's Nest Twist Sock, 75 g

Last spring, I was at the Crooked Needles knitting retreat and my dear friend was selling gorgeous yarns she had dyed herself. Of course I had to buy some. I fell in love with this high twist merino sock yarn and all those green shades.

When it came time to cast on, I was feeling everything! So I ended up designing socks with a stitch pattern that combines twisted ribbing with lace. And then, I added a few beads.

The socks are knit toe up and the lace starts right away when there's enough space for it. The heel is a round French heel that's worked with short rows.

My favorite part is the twisted rib heel and how the lace goes around the socks after it. The pattern includes detailed instructions on when to start the lace on the heel so that it will match the lace on the instep no matter how long legs you might have.

You can find the pattern on Ravelry. There's an introductory discount with the code DARLING (which happens to be rakas in Finnish). The discount is valid until Tuesday night September 10th.