I enough scarves and shawls to last me a lifetime, but I just can't stop knitting them. They are my favourite portable project and one always has to have one of those tucked away in the bag! They are also the best projects to try out new techniques or stitch patterns, or even how a yarn behaves.
This is my finished Strandwanderer, designed by Lea Viktoria. This is a great pattern for a variegated skein as it really pulls out the individual colours. I also learned to knit backwards which is one of those invaluable skills. I wanted a bigger scarf than my one skein of Ripples Craft yarn in the Tartan colourway would allow, so I added this forest green Debonaire lace (which knits more like 4ply), and gradually increased the width of the striping. I really like how it works with the other colours.
I won this pattern - Fika by Karie Westermann - in a knit-a-long prize draw, and thought it would be perfect for some skeins of Howgill Tweed from Laura's Loom that have been in my stash for several years. Sadly, this yarn is discontinued but you could get the same marled effect by using two strands of contrasting or co-ordinating colours.
The photo above is a little washed out, but below, you can see the marled effect and how rich that orangey-red is. This is a perfect autumnal, sheepy shawl.
September's project for A Year of Techniques was the Wood Warbler Cowl, designed by Martina Behm. It was such a fun, quick project and ingeniously simple design, that I knit two! The one on the left used two colourways of Schoppel-Wolle Gradient DK and for the one on the right, I cast on fewer stitches to make it a little more snug, and used the remnants of my Reothart yarn from Uist Wool paired with some Tamar DK from Blacker.
My absolutely favourite recent project though has to be the Eddy Wrap designed by Julia Farwell-Clay. This was so much fun to knit. I used Kate Davies' Buachaille yarn for both the main body and the scallops and the colours are so cheery and autumnal that I smile every time I wear it. It reminds me of harlequins.
I also have two sweaters on the go. I've now finished the body and sleeves of my Ola Yoke by Ella Gordon, and am really looking forward to joining them all up and starting the fair isle yoke pattern. It's going to have a wintery look to it, so perfect for the next few months.
As part of Knit British's Good Intentions Club, in which we are encouraged to dig out neglected patterns and yarn and just knit the darn things, I have cast on Carpino by Carol Feller in this lovely teal Titus 4ply. I am a little further on than this photo shows; the body is now done and I just have the sleeves and neckline to do. It's going to look great with jeans or a brown skirt.
Oops, and I may have just cast on another shawl too. I have long been pondering a pattern to show off a lovely set of mini-skeins from the Knitting Goddess that I bought at the Leeds Wool Festival. I have settled on the Lamina Wrap by Ambah O'Brien and this is my current portable project. The silvery white is the Knitting Goddess's new One Farm yarn and it may well be my yarn of the year - so soft and sheepy. Really enjoying knitting on this and seeing the subtle gradients develop. Though I really should be knitting mittens. I actually need mittens.
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