New pattern: Silverwing

I have a new shawl design to share! This is Silverwing, a one-skein lace shawl inspired by the birdlife of the Whakatane river, and the graceful white-faced herons in particular. My parents' house and shop are about a 20-minute walk apart, and the riverbank is by far the most pleasant route between them. There are always pūkeko, shags, swallows, and various gulls to be seen, and sometimes I'm lucky enough to spot a heron or a flock of spoonbills.

During my last visit to Whakatane I knit up this shawl (it's a quick knit for a lace project), and did a photoshoot by the river with Dad...

One of Dad's many amazing bird photos! This one's a white-faced heron.

The yarn is a special gradient-dyed silk blend, Ozimerino Soie (50% merino, 50% silk; 438yds/401m per 100g) from local dyer Dawn of Ozifarmer's Market. This colour is called 'Silver', and it's a subtle, gentle gradient with a lot of shine from the silk. I used up all of the yarn to get the most out of the gradient, and it's easy to change the number of repeats at the end of the shawl so you can do the same.

The lace patterns in Silverwing are simple and easily memorised, making it a suitable project for a beginner lace knitter, or an experienced lace knitter looking for a low-attention project for tv knitting.

I like the way the long tail of the shawl curls around itself.

Features:

• an all-over lace pattern inspired by wing feathers

• an asymmetrical triangular shape, knit from the narrow point to the opposite edge

• a stretchy k2tog-tbl lace bind off

• the lace patterns are intuitive and easy to memorise

• a one-skein project, easily customisable to suit your available yardage

• perfect for gradient-dyed yarn, as well as solids and semi-solids. The lace is also simple enough for speckled or lightly variegated yarn

• one size, easily shrunk or enlarged by changing the number of repeats

• pattern includes full written instructions and hybrid charted + written instructions

Find out more about my Silverwing shawl pattern, including Ravelry and Payhip purchase options. Dad's website (with a very pretty photo gallery) is here: Jos's Photography & Framing.

In full sail! ;)

New pattern: Folia Triangle

And that's a wrap! Rounding out my La Folia Collection is Folia Triangle (Ravelry link). It's a bottom-up triangular shawl with two size options - I knit the large size, and it's enormous and very snuggly. :)

Features:

• a v-shaped leaf-lace panel on a background of garter stitch

• a shallow triangular shape, knit from the bottom point upwards

• a tidy i-cord bind off

• stitch markers keep track of the lace section's boundaries, so that only a few rows require you to pay special attention

• for two skeins of fingering-weight yarn, or one high-yardage skein

• perfect for speckled or lightly variegated yarn as well as solids and semi-solids - the lace pattern is simple enough to take it

• two sizes (shown in L), easily shrunk or enlarged by changing the number of repeats

• pattern includes full written instructions and hybrid charted + written instructions

I used two gorgeous skeins of Revelry Sock from Circus Tonic Handmade, in a speckled colourway called 'Zebra Finch'. All of Circus Tonic's colours are named after Australian birds, which I think is really cool (as a fellow bird lover).

You can see all the details and download the Folia Triangle pattern via Ravelry and LoveCrafts. An ebook with all three patterns is also available on Ravelry as the La Folia Collection.

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P.S. Here's a tiny video I posted on Instagram a couple of months ago, when I was knitting the bind off on this shawl:

My new favourite bind-off for shawls is a 2-stitch icord BO! *k1, k2tog through back loops, slip 2 sts to left needle, repeat from * until done. 💕🙌🏼

A video posted by Amy van de Laar (@amyvdlaar) on Jul 17, 2016 at 6:29pm PDT

New pattern: Folia Loop

Folia Loop is the second design in my La Folia Collection of accessories featuring leafy lace and garter stitch. It's a lightweight cowl that can be worn draped as a long loop or doubled up for warmth. I was lucky enough to have my Mum agree to model it for me!

It requires only one skein of fingering-weight yarn - I used Malabrigo Mechita in 'Pearl', a soft grey with a pretty tinge of mauve. It's a little more tricky than the Folia Crescent shawl, but aside from the provisional cast on and the final grafting it should be relatively intuitive once you've knit the first section or two of the lace. And the garter section is of course smooth sailing!

If you haven't tried a provisional cast on before or would like to try a new method, this is my favourite tutorial, using the crochet hook method: Crochet Provisional Cast On.

Features:

• a diagonal leafy lace panel surrounded by squishy garter stitch

• long enough to wear looped either once or twice

• knit flat with a provisional cast on and grafted to finish

• a stitch marker keeps track of the lace/garter boundary

• a one skein project in fingering-weight yarn, perfect for that precious single skein

• one size, easily enlarged by working extra garter stitch rows

• pattern includes full written instructions and hybrid charted + written instructions

Find out more about my Folia Loop pattern, including Ravelry and Payhip purchase options.

The remaining pattern in the collection, a triangular shawl, is currently being test knit and will be released in late September. You can find the collection-so-far here on Ravelry: La Folia Collection. The triangular shawl pattern will be added to the ebook once it's released.

Curious about the name La Folia? I introduced the collection and its musical inspiration in my earlier post, New pattern: Folia Crescent.

A tale of two sweaters

You guys, I finished a sweater... and it only took me two-and-a-bit weeks! For me, that is FAST. It was my big Ravellenics project, so I was determined to get it done before the deadline. I put my other works-in-progress aside for the two weeks and just worked on this whenever I could. Result: a new knitted garment that didn't take me several months. ;)

The pattern is Ysolda's Blank Canvas (Ravelry link), and I used less than five skeins of Longrider DK from Madelinetosh in the 'River Water' colourway. I'm still completely in love with the speckles!

One thing I would do differently next time is to knit the sleeves on similar needles to the ones I used for the body: I used wooden double pointed needles on the lower part of the sleeves and slippery metal needles on the body, and the gauge is visibly looser on the sleeves. Ooops. 

I've been wearing it regularly for a few weeks now, and so far the only signs of wear are a few pills under the arms. I still need to block it, but I'm waiting for warmer weather so I won't be without it for long while it dries. <3

To keep my garment-knitting momentum going, I dug out an old half-finished WIP from 2014 and decreed it my new Weekend Knitting project. The pattern is Laura Aylor's Park Slope tee (Ravelry link), and the yarn is Vintage Purls Sock in 'Across the Universe', with subtle swirls of midnight purple and blue.

I've nearly finished the ribbing at the hem, and then I'll just have the sleeve ribbing and neckline ribbing to go. And then I'll have another new top to wear, just in time for spring.