Two Finished Projects!

Hello! I am back this week with two finished projects to share with you! Firstly, my Skimming Stones Shawl and secondly, with the yarn leftover, my Malvern Cowl. As well as using the same yarn, both patterns were written by the same designer, Joanne Scrace!

finished Skimming Stones Scarf

finished Malvern Cowl

Kat Goldin and Joanne Scrace together form The Crochet Project and back in June they hosted a Mystery Crochet Along (MCAL) with the Skimming Stones pattern. Each week for 5 weeks a small part of the pattern was released without a single photo of what the finished shawl would look like! Hundreds of people joined in and there was a lovely community feel in their private Facebook Group and on Instagram.

detail of Skimming Stones Shawl

The recommended yarn for the MCAL was Carlisle Fingering by Eden Cottage Yarns and there were special kits available online. There was an alternative yarn suggestion, Milburn 4ply (85% blue faced leicister/ 15% silk), and I decided to go with this because I preferred the more solid looking colours. I bought the kit with 6 balls (2x main colour, 1x each of the 4 contrast colours) and also an extra ball of pale pink because I felt like mixing things up a little! This yarn was a joy to work with - it felt so soft and luxurious against my hands. I had a lot of fun following along with this project and enjoyed watching the unusual shape develop. I was a bit of a rebel and chose to ignore the set pattern of colours and introduced each colour in a random yet pleasing order.

edge detail

When I had finished my shawl I looked at how much yarn I had left, and together with the ball that came in the kit but didn't use, I reckoned I had enough to crochet a Malvern Cowl. I had had my eye on this pattern for a while and felt it would be a fantastic way to use up all of my yarn. The spike stitches give this pattern a real edgy look which I love and the stripes quickly built up to form the cowl. One change I made to the pattern was to twist the tube shape before sewing together to help to give it drape (I wasn't using the recommended yarn here and it was feeling slightly too rigid).

detail of Malvern Cowl

So, there you have it; two cosy items for winter crocheted out of 7 balls of yarn with next to nothing left over and I am really pleased with them both!

Marta xx