As Christmassy As My Knitting Gets. . .

While waiting for Kate Davies' next book, Inspired by Islay (the patterns will be released once a week for twelve weeks starting mid-December), I signed up to Knitvent 2016, created by Helen Stewart of the Curious Handmade Podcast.  For under £10, I'll receive six accessory patterns over six weeks, all with a mountain theme which is what really sold me on the package.

The first pattern - the Alpine Sunset Shawl - arrived three weeks ago and I immediately thought of knitting it in colours to remind me of my recent train trip through the Canadian Rockies.

This is the skein of Riverstone 4ply that I  picked up at Wet Coast Wools in Vancouver.  It has all the greens of the acres of forest that we passed.

I paired it with some Hedgehog Fibres in the colourway Typewriter, which mimics the snowy tops of the mountains and the snowstorm we came through en route to Jasper from Edmonton.

The pattern also called for some beads - I had these bronze ones in my stash just waiting for this project. They are subtle (which I like), but when the light catches them, they remind me of the sun peeking through the trees. Or maybe pine cones.

Then I added some golden brown Ripples Crafts BFL,  left over from my Building Blocks shawl.  This reminded me of the needle-strewn forest floors.

These are definitely not colours that I would normally knit with, but I'm really happy with the overall effect; it's a good winter colour shawl.

Two more Knitvent patterns have subsequently been released: The Boreal Forest cowl and  The Juniper Socks.  These both look lovely and I do plan to knit them in due course.  I'm especially eager to try the socks; I'm in a bit of a sock knitting phase at the moment as I try and get some xmas gifts finished.  One pair down. . . another cast on.