Entanglement

In just couple of years my annual mystery knit-a-long has turned into a tradition. And now, it's time to reveal this year's shawl.

What: Entanglement / Own pattern
How: Circular needle 3.75 mm

From: nurja bfl, 278 g

For me, the main thing about designing an MKAL is to keep the knitters guessing. You will quickly loose the mystery in a mystery knit-a-long if you can easily guess that this designer always comes up with this kind of shawls. My first MKAL, Shake It Up was about fun ways to mix colors and last year, Hummingbird was all about directions to knit in. Since the first two MKALs had brioche and garter stitch in them it was high time to do something completely different.

I had this idea of an overtly romantic lace shawl already back in January but a little book project kept me busy all spring. In the end, I did manage to find the time to design this mystery shawl.

Entanglement shawl is worked in three colors and it consists of 13 sections worked in 7 different lace patterns. The sections are worked in different directions and at the beginning, it can be very difficult to see how it will look once finished. The different lace sections are separated by a little eyelet stripe.

The shawl starts off with something extra special as the first two lace sections are worked with two colors as intarsia. But fear not, I've made a tutorial video over on Instagram.

Once the main body of the shawl is finished, there are about a million stitches to pick up from the lower edge of the shawl to work a lace border with short rows. Finally, the romantic vibe of the shawl is topped off with a picot bind off. 

The shawl has an unusual shape this time. It's not a triangle shawl, nor a crescent. Or, it's kind of a crescent but angular. And the five bottom angles can have tassels added to them at the end - because, you know, tassels!

We found the perfect backdrop to photograph this romantic shawl. Mom's friend let us use her allotment garden and the scent of flowers was intoxicating.

I hope you had fun working on this romantic lace shawl. Next year's mystery will be something completely different, yet again.

Iron gate beanie

The test knitters for Wrought iron sweater had the excellent idea of a beanie with the same lace pattern. I couldn't resist, so I wrote a beanie pattern to accompany the sweater.

What: Iron gate / Oma ohje
How: Circular needle 3.0 mm
From: WalkCollection Cozy Merino + Hedgehog Fibres Skinny Singles, 75 + 10 g

I had left overs of the contrast color from the sweater, plenty enough to design a hat. Main color I had to get from my LYS. I found this lovely, kind of a lead shaded green merino single.

The idea was to use the same lace as in the sweater. I felt that the hat would hold wind at all, so in order to stay warm in my new beanie, I made it double layered. No more cold ears! I also like how well the lace stands out against the main color.

The knitting starts at the crown of the lining. A few increases and then lots of plain stockinette stitch. The brim is twisted ribbing and the hats are fastened at the top of the ribbing so that they stay in place.

The contrast color lace in this one is knitted as intarsia in the round. But don't worry, the pattern includes a photo tutorial. If you don't dare to commit yourself to an entire sweater, this beanie is a quick project for trying this interesting technique.

While designin the beanie, I was a bit nervous on how nicely I could make the decreases on the lace, but they turned out really pretty and made this knitwear designer happyhappy.

You'll need an almost entire skein of the main color but only about 10 grams of contrast color. I still have some left from the sweater and the hat. Any ideas on where to use the rest?

The hat has been on my head every day since I finished it. The lining makes it really warm and the merino single yarn is super soft on the head. The lace goes well on a sweater and on a hat. The play with knit and purl stitches gives a bit of a 3D effect.

The pattern has been test knitted and is available on Ravelry. You can get the pattern at half price if you purchase or have purchased the Wrought iron sweater as well. Add them both to your Ravelry cart and the discount should show up automatically. Or, if you have already bought the sweater, just add the beanie to your cart and you should see the discount. The offer expires at the end of Saturday February 25th.

Wrought iron

This here is my most recent design, published at the end of January.

What: Wrought iron / Own pattern

How: Circular needles 3.0 and 3.25 mm

From: Hedgehog Fibres Skinny Singles, 325 g

I designed a new sweater pattern, Wrought iron. This boxy sweater is knit top down seamlessly. It features long slim sleeves and a contrast color lace panel in the front. The hem, sleeve brims and neck band are twisted rib.

The sweater is worked in fingering weight yarn. I used Hedgehog Fibres Skinny Singles that gave me a pretty, flowy fabric. The colors I used are Charcoal (MC) and Stone (CC). Dependin on the size, you'll need three to four skeins of MC and about 30 g CC. So you can probably use some scrap yarn from your stash for CC. The pattern has sizes XXS-XS-X (M1-M2-L1) L2-XL-XXL and you should pick a size with approx. 30 cm positive ease at chest circumference.

The lace panel in the front is worked as intarsia - and intarsia in the round. Now, I know this sounds terrifying but I promise you it isn't difficult at all. The pattern also includes a photo tutorial on intarsia in the round so this could be the perfect chance to learn a new technique.

You can buy the pattern at my Ravelry shop. A lovely LYS Snurre, from Helsinki sponsored the yarn. Thank you!

I must say, this turned out just about perfect - even if I'm a bit partial. It's warm and soft and increbildy light. The contrast color lace panel brings just enough something special to this basic boxy sweater.

If you're wondering about the needle sizes, I have a thighter tension when knitting in the round so I used a larger needle for the sleeves. I should probably think about these things more often, I might end up with more well fitting garments!

There are more pics on Ravelry. I'm going to go ponder over my next design.