It's all change on the coffee table this month!
I finished my sofa shawl - a large triangle shawl in aran weight yarn. I used the City Block Shawl pattern by Laura Aylor. Just in time for the slight dip in temperature.
City Block Shawl by Laura Aylor on Ravelry
You can read more about it in the Gallery.
I haven't made much progress on my Jessica Jones cowl but I did start another personal project - AquaMarline by Park Williams. You can find the pattern on Ravelry.
AquaMarline by Park Williams on Ravelry
This was a spur of the moment cast on.
AquaMarline is a cropped jumper with balloon sleeves. It's knitted in a chunky gauge (there is a lighter weight version available called AquaMarlite and a big cardi too).
I saw Twisted Squirrel's sweater on Instagram and loved the marled effect and the statement sleeves.
It's a similar technique to the Garter Squish blankets that I've knitted - holding 4 strands of 4ply together to make a chunky weight yarn.
Given I've knitted two Garter Squish blankets in 2 years my 4ply leftovers are quite depleted. So I cracked open some of the hand dyed yarn I've been stashing... mostly from trunk shows that we've had in the shop. Some are highly variegated, others more semi solid.
In combining the colours I am aiming for a dark bottom to a bright/light yoke. But I'm trying not to think about it too much...
...which means I have thought about it 😆. The jumper body is cropped and the sleeves huge... so I'm trying to judge how much yarn to set aside to keep the sleeves the same shades and have it end with the same colours across the body and both sleeves when I'm juggling at least 6 colours AND keep enough yarn to finish it all off.
Given that this is a jumper and needs to fit a body (and I would hate to unravel 4 strands of yarn to fix any size issues) I made a gauge swatch in the round using this video tutorial from Elizabeth Smith. A quick way to count your stitches if you have spare yarn!
And if you like sweaters with statement sleeves check out Park Williams other designs and Lily Kate France designs.
The other new cast on is for the shop - a garter stitch triangle shawl. This is a reworking of an older shop sample and free shop pattern 👇.
In the old version I used 4 natural shades of a Rico merino/acrylic yarn. We no longer stock this yarn and for the new version I've gone lux and used Rowan Alpaca Soft DK. A blend of wool and alpaca and a yarn I love.
You can tell how much I love it as there's already an Alpaca Soft DK cowl, hat, scarf and poncho in the shop!
Inspired by how the blocks of colour come together and overlap each other when the shawl is worn I've decided to use the dark and light grey shades with two contrasting shades.
This was a hard choice... so I think they'll be some new kits available once I finish the shawl.
Arvia by Anna Nikipirowicz on Ravelry
The other shop sample on the coffee table is the Arvia shawl.
Arvia by Anna Nikipirowicz is an asymmetrical triangle shawl with a lace patterned edge. It combines, in two row stripes, Rowan Kidsilk Haze, a laceweight mohair, and an undyed 4ply in a luxurious blend of merino, silk and yak.
I am now onto the lace edge border. I am taking my time with this as it's a lace pattern, worked in a fluffy laceweight mohair in a pale colour... But it is a relatively simple pattern repeat over not many rows and I have a spotlight!
I did finish another shop sample. It knitted up so quickly that it missed the monthly update. Just as well as it was HUGE and took up a lot of space on the coffee table 👇.
mid month coffee table WIPs
It isn't ready for it's big reveal yet... perhaps next month...
