The Luck Of The Irish

irish ale shawlette by yours truly
guinness version in ice yarns kid mohair 'black'
and rowan kidsilk haze in 'ghost'
green beer version in yarn chef minestrone in 'spring vortex'
and bbknits prima superwash merino nylon in 'innocence'

The Irish Ale Shawlette is a companion piece (as they say in the art world) to my Irish Ale Socks.  I love these socks so much that I've been thinking about making something with a similar pattern for yonks...  

The stitch pattern always makes me think of settling ale, swirling, newly poured, in a pint glass, and the bubbly head at the top (or in this case, the bottom) just cries out to be made out of such a pretty (if I may say so) ruffled edge - a somewhat stylised form of the main stitch pattern. 

And so this little shawl was born. Or perhaps poured...

The Irish Ale Shawlette is worked from the top down and knits up well in most lighter-weight yarns, as long as you finish the body of the shawl after one full repeat, as the froth is calculated to work with that specific numbers of stitches.  

My Guinness version was worked in lace-weight, and the Green Beer in fingering-weight.  They both look extremely tasty and the stitch pattern is well defined in both weights.  Try in sport-weight, or DK for something a little more substantial!  Gauge isn't important, and as long as you have enough yarn, you're guaranteed of a darling little shawl, designed to keep the Autumn (or Spring) chills from your shoulders as you partake of an Irish Ale down the pub!

And BONUS! for the first month, you can take advantage of the introductory price of  €3 - this price is available until the 10th of September, after which it will go up to the normal price of €4.  

Further details can be found HERE on the Ravelry page (available to members and non-members alike).  You can also click the button below, which will take you immediately to the paypal page.  

Goan - you know you wanta!

Keeping Your Martinis Dry

cocktail umbrella shawlette by yours truly
madelinetosh tosh sock in 'grapefruit'

I'd like to introduce something to you that I've been working on for a while...  The Cocktail Umbrella Shawlette.  

In keeping with my main alcoholic beverages theme (yes, I am indeed that clever... or fortunate that that I have a one-track mind) this shawlette is a celebration in little shawl form of that ubiquitous little paper drink accessory you find shading all your favourite exotic cocktails.  (I have to admit to liking them on non-exotic cocktails, too...  I find, for example, a cocktail umbrella balanced on the top of a pint of Guinness rather endearing, in a beauty and the beast kind of way...  But I digress.)  

 

Of those non-edible garnished for your alcoholic beverage of choice, none can come higher in the estimation of all (i.e. me) than the festive cocktail umbrella.  It adds fun and frivolity to the most austere of drinks (and now I'm picturing a traditional spot of sherry in an old-fashioned sherry glass, adorned with a bright paper umbrella...  I digress again.) and nothing else says 'this booze is FUN' any better than this little paper firework!

The Cocktail Umbrella Shawlette is made from the lace edging upward, and the body of the shawl is worked using short rows to give it that classic crescent shape. Adapted from my Piña Colada Socks and initially inspired by Barbara Walker's parasol lace, this shawlette is the perfect companion to watching the sun go down whilst sipping on your favourite cocktail!

So inspired was I by this little bit of yarny engineering, that I went straight on to make another one...  It took 4 days.  I may or may not have been obsessed.

april showers version
zagroda sock in 'gray'

  424 little stitches, 6 rows in,
finished lace swirl,
short rows take shape, nearly done.

Considering this is my first attempt at putting a little shawl together, I have to say I'm pretty pleased with the results!  You must, if you have the time, take a peek at the other versions of this shawlette you can find on the pattern page (which I'll link to in a bit) as the colours my testers have chosen to make this are truly reminiscent of cocktail umbrellas - they look so festive and happy!

And because I am so proud of this little cracker, I'm offering it for €3 ($3.87, £2.55) until the end of June 2013 to all-comers, then will put it up to the actual price of €4 ($5.16, £3.40) after the month is up!  You can't say I'm not good to you! :)

You can find the Ravelry pattern page HERE, or if you want to cut out the middle man, you can click on the button below which will take you straight to paypal.  All mod cons here, you know!

To make this shawl you need: size 3.5.mm (US 4) and size 3.25 (US 3) circular or straight needles, 380 - 400 yards of fingering-weight yarn, strong thread or similar for lifelines (optional but recommended), and around 20 stitch markers.  The size is roughly 75" wingspan by 15" depth but it depends on how rigorously and aggressively you block it.  I blocked both of mine to create scallops on the top edge, but it's just as simple (if not more simple) to block it straight.  I liked the added tension on the lace created by the scallops, but YMMV!

(you can click on any of these photos for a larger look-see!)

Pre-Apocalyptic Roundup

I joined, perhaps in a state of optimism, a small thread on Ravelry dedicated to finishing 12 knitted items in 2012.  Pff, thought, I (optimistically) 12 finished items in 2012?  A piece of p*ss, as they say.  12 months later, (almost) and I have barely scraped through...  I am in hope of finishing a 13th item, but boy, I'm cutting things fine.  I'm aiming for Christmas for this 13th item, though, so I'm perhaps not cutting it fine for 2012.  Unless, of course, 2012 ends on Friday.  Maybe I'll have the item blocked by then.  It would be a shame to go out with unblocked items lying around.  What would extra-terrestrial archeologists of the future think of us, when they find caches of unfinished items of the knitted sort, languishing on bent and battered (and by then, ancient) needles.  That the the human race never finished anything?  That we lived by a code of ooh-shininess?  

(Actually...)

But, they are done.  Huzzah.  And they're not 'just' socks.  No-hoh.  There are 3 - count them - THREE shawls in this.  (Meh, okay, so they're shawlettes, but there's still an astonishing amount of stitching going on in them.)  Maybe even 4, if you count the neck-shoulder warmer I finished last week.  Them's a lot of knitting, eyellhavyoono. 

From the top, we have Dellezig, which is basically a zigzag neck/shoulder warmer with a ribbed neck, by DROPS designs.  I'm not going to link to the pattern, because I find it ridiculously badly written.  The item itself is pretty, though, and should do a fine job of keeping my Mum nice and warm! I used Eden Cottage Yarns 'Fantasia' in Delle.

Next is a very pretty shawlette I worked on as a test piece for the designer.  The Samaras Shawlette is a pattern by Nancy Totten, and a very quick knit for for such a pretty little shawl.  It should have a nice scalloped edge, but I didn't have enough pins.  It does, however, still block nicely with a more traditional spiky edge!  I used Malabrigo Yarn 'Sock' in Violeta Africana.  

Following on are my dear Hippie Hippie Socks, using Noro 'Kureyon Sock' in 256.  (You can find a whole post about this pattern in the links to the right.)

Oblique and Acute socks (mine again) are close behind the Hippies.  Oblique uses Munchkin Knitworks 'String of Pearls Plus' in Hodgeberry stain, and the Acute socks use King Cole 'Riot' in Riot.

I go back in time for the next project - another version of my first ever pattern 'Traffic Island Socks'.  Aw, bless! This time I used Eden Cottage Yarns 'Tempo' in Bit of a Goth.

Another of my new 2012 patterns - this time Cherry Garni.  I made these using Araucania 'Ranco Solid' in PT485 and a touch here and there of The Yarn Side 'Walker Merino' in Red Lentil Evenings.

I volunteered for another test shawl earlier on in the year - this time it was a Stepped Laceline Shawl by Venita Kidwai.  Very pretty, slightly boring to make, but the end result is worth the monotony. 

 

 

My sister gave me the yarn for the next project.  She wanted socks.  Who was I to not indulge this adorable trait?  I made a mistake choosing the pattern, though - Kalajoki - it was fiddly to make over 3 needles, especially considering it was a DK pattern.  I ended up changing the toe structure to something that didn't break my fingers.  The yarn is Stylecraft 'Life DK' in Honey.

Doornroosje came next - a pretty shawl pattern by a real-life friend (as opposed to all the ones in my internet).  I made it with King Cole 'Mirage' in 874 Oslo.  I gave it as a birthday gift to a singer friend of mine, who uses it as a 'throat-warmer'!

My tragic 'Where Corals Lie' bag comes next in the collage.  Ah, I had such high hopes. You can see the full story here and here.  I used what I thought was Noro 'Kureyon' in 196, but it appears to have been a bag of knock-off fake Noro.  Sad, sad, sad.

Finally there's Rambling - a great semi-improvised pattern for a scarf.  I made the mistake of not making it wide enough, even though I knew I was using acrylic and I'd never get it to block.  Cygent '100% Acrylic Aran' in 185 Denim, to be precise.  It is, however, still being used by the person for whom it was made, so not a disaster by any means!

I'm kinda hoping we're not going to suffer the Mayan prophecy of doom, because I've just started a Wingspan shawl, and I'd really like to be able to wear it in the not-too-distant (non 999 degree apocalyptic) future.

To be continued...  Hopefully with a 13 for 2013 (optimistic) goal...