Here is the news… (Craft Edition).

This is a seven-ply version of “Here is the news”… Do you even get seven-ply??? Ok, let’s just call it chunky!!!

First Strand – Way back before I want missing from this here blog I was working on my shellscape shawl. The pattern is from Lisa Cook who writes some stunning crocheted shawl patterns. I used Scheejpes Whirl in Watermelon Hellraiser. The last few years I have timed the making of a crocheted shawl with our annual narrowboat journey and this time I managed to finish it while we were onboard. It came out very well and I would make another. So many shawls are triangular… it’s nice to have a rectangular one. It was made for a colleague at school and every so often I spot it being worn around the building and it makes me smile a lot on the inside.

Second Strand… Granny cowls.. three and four I think?? I’m not sure, I have lost count of how many of these I have made. These were made before Christmas as presents for two more work colleagues. I’m not sure I have any photos of them sadly… one was purples and greys and the other was blue, grey and wine red (I think??). Sometimes I walk into the stock cupboard and see one hanging on a hook and think… I know that cowl… Oh… I made it!!! (Cue more inside smiles!). (Photos below are of granny cowls from the past!)

Third Strand…  After Christmas we took a road trip over the hills to see friends in Manchester for New Year and you can’t have a road trip with out something yarny to do on the way can you? I had nothing started and didn’t know what to do so I looked through the yarn stash and decided to use some of it up. You might remember that LJ had to write a letter of complaint as part of his schoolwork and we decided to do it about the mistakes in my Stylecraft Colour Pool yarn and we were sent some goodies from Stylecraft in reply. There was another ball of Colour Pool in the blue/green colourway which LJ liked so I started that deciding to make it as a scarf rather than a cowl. It is such a beautifully soft yarn. And there were no problems with it this time. I used the whole ball.

Fourth Strand… After the Colour Pool scarf was complete I was stuck again with nothing to make so returned to the stash and chose the Stylecraft Batik Swirl that had also come in our goodie bag. I hunted about and decided to try the Virus Shawl pattern knowing how popular it is. The pattern was fine but I probably wouldn’t have bought the yarn in a shop. It’s soft enough but I don’t like the way it is painted to make it look “batik” and the colour changes are quite abrupt. Just my personal taste though. Again it was gifted to a colleague for her birthday and she was pleased with it.

Fifth Strand… Now we are getting closer to the present day!! Continuing in the “use up the stash” theme, I had a gorgeous skein of hand dyed sock yarn from Peak District Yarns which I had won in the Winwick Mum Sockalong first birthday giveaway. Soooooo long ago, but with special yarns you have to wait until the time is right and the right pattern presents itself… it’s karma (or something!!). Based in Tideswell in Derbyshire, Carrie uses the environment around her – the beautiful Peak District National Park – to provide the inspiration for her hand dyed yarns. My skein was titled “Heights of Abraham” and was purple, green, soft yellow, brown and some cream. I googled around for one skein shawl patterns but kept finding lots of knitted ones so decided to push my knitting skills a bit further and try one. It seemed fitting to choose one from Christine Perry (Winwick Mum) because that is where the yarn came from and she promised it would be Ok for my limited knitting skills. It was a bit of a challenge getting the lace edge set up and going – mainly because I wasn’t sure how it should look. Mistakes were made but most people won’t spot them and I learned lots and my knitting confidence grew with the shawl. I am very pleased with it- I think I’ll call it my Abrahamish Shawl! It’s delicate and the colours really look like the Derbyshire hills.

Sixth Strand… Now we are up to the present but I think I shall save the details of what is currently happening for next week when I plan to join Ginny at Small Things with her Yarn Along.

Seventh Strand… Plans… I have an urge to sew and make clothes. Over Easter I even had a tidy up in the attic where the sewing machine lives – it has been buried for a while!! I have been following more people who sew their own clothes on Instagram, googling patterns and fabrics and recently got very excited that The Sewing Bee was back on tv. Whether it comes to anything – I’ll let you know. Yarn wise – I have also been HUGELY tempted by some of the CALs that are currently happening… Shall I commit or not?… It’s a big one I think… Again, I’ll let you know.

And there you have it, that’s the (crafty) news for now. What’s your news???