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

Yarn Review: Koigu Mori

Hello! Today I am going to review a recent addition to my yarn stash - Koigu Mori. I bought 3 skeins of this amazingly soft yarn from loveknitting.com in their January sale and when I opened my parcel I did a little dance because it was stunningly beautiful!

skeins of Koigu Mori with some sunny daffodils

The colours in the yarn instantly made me think of daffodils - of both their flowers and their folliage - the perfect colours as we look forward to Spring in the northern hemisphere. I chose colourway 533 (they are all numbered rather than named) for its fresh look but there is a massive range of colours to choose from, both variegated like this one and solid colours. You can view the entire collection on the Koigu website here.

The composition of the yarn is 50% merino wool and 50% mulberry silk giving it excellent stitch definition and a luxurious sheen. The silk content makes it wonderfully lightweight and drapy so an idea began to form in my head for a scarf design. Inspired by a swatch in a 70s crochet book I began to play with a filet pattern which incorporated a daffodil like motif. 

early stages of the design process

The yarn worked up beautifully without snagging or splitting and the stitches stand out really prettily. The colour changes in the variegated yarn are very short producing a mottled rather than a stripy effect which I like. 

fast progress on this shawl

Based a few hours outside Toronto, Canada, Koigu Wool Designs is a small family run business. It started up specialising in 4ply 100% merino and the demand for this yarn became so great that the business expanded and introduced other bases, still focusing on 4ply something which makes the brand stand out. Today the yarn is a vailable worldwide.

wonderful stitch definition

So, my plans are to continue with this scarf design, write it up, send it to testers, do the final edit and then share it with you in time for Spring!

Happy hooking,

Marta xx

NB. This blog post has not been sponsored by Love Knitting or Koigu, the viewpoints are entirely my own.

Yarn Review: Ginger's Hand Dyed Bleating Velvet 4ply

I have only been crocheting with Ginger's Hand Dyed Bleating Velvet 4ply for a week and it has shot into 1st place in my top yarn list! Dyed on a base of 80% superwash merino/ 10% cashmere/ 10% nylon it has a soft texture that feels wonderful to work with. But the main appeal for me is the stunning colourways available!

Last Saturday my husband and I had a child free day in Edinburgh. We took an early train through and spent the day exploring the city of my birth with no real fixed plan or agenda ... except a visit to Ginger Twist Studio! I had visited Ginger Twist Studio's stall at the Edinburgh Yarn Festival in March and although I didn't buy anything, knew I had to go and visit the shop and see all the gorgeous yarn together.

So, after leaving Waverley train station we wandered down to Edinburgh's east side and found the pretty shop with a little help from Google maps (how did we cope before all this technology?). The shop really is like it says on its website description - "a sweetie shop for knitters, crocheters, spinners and weavers"! There were so many colours to take in, I had a hard job choosing just one or two colour palettes for future projects!

There is an extensive choice of the shop's own hand dyed range called Ginger's Hand Dyed. The above photo shows the 2 skeins of Bleating Velvet 4ply I chose. They were hanging side by side from the shelf and I thought the vibrant orangey red was perfect beside the cooler blue grey. I had a shawl in mind from The Shawl Project: Book Two by Joanne Scrace and Kat Goldin which required 2 different coloured skeins of 4ply and thought these two would do very nicely.

The colours I chose have descriptive names - they are "Grey Gardens" and "Girl on Fire" and the pattern, by Joanne Scrace, is called "Missed Kingfisher". The subtle shifts and changes in the colour of the wool make each row unique and compelling to crochet. 

I'm using a 5mm crochet hook, slightly narrower than the recommended 6mm but I'm particularly loose with my tension. The large hook helps the shawl flow and takes away any rigidity a finer hook would produce. Ginger's Hand Dyed Bleating Velvet 4ply drapes beautifully and feels so soft against my skin, I can't wait to wear it around my shoulders (oh yes! This one is for me!!).

My new-to-me vintage basket holds this project perfectly, I just had to take a photo or two for my Instagram gallery ...

If you are in or around Edinburgh I would highly recommend a visit to Ginger Twist Studio, if you're further afield you can buy online at www.gingertwiststudios.com. 

At the moment I am only a few rows away from finishing this shawl, then I will give it a light blocking before I can wear it. I can't wait!

Crocheting at Loch Tay

Last week I was fortunate to head into the heart of Scotland to Ardeonaig, Loch Tay. I was a parent helper on my middle son's Primary 7 adventure week; a residential holiday with lots of outdoor based activities. Of course, I brought along a new crochet project!

Loch Tay, viewed from our house 

on the evening of our arrival

Last month I had received "The Shawl Project: Book One" by Joanne Scrace for The Crochet Project as a birthday present, so this seemed the ideal inspiration for a new WIP to take with me! I chose some random, no label yarn which had been passed on to me and decided on the "Transposition" pattern. 

Crochet, tea and a beautiful view!

The children had a fair amount of free time to explore the grounds so I had some time to sit down, take in the view and crochet! The pattern is easy to understand and written in 4 sections which are very easy to memorise - an ideal project if you are going to be distracted.

I crouched down in the grass for

this atmospheric shot of Ben Lawers

in the clouds

I accompanied the children on a hike one day. We climbed up into the hills which gave us fantastic views of the loch and surrounding mountains. Ben Lawers, across the loch from us, is the 10th highest peak in the UK and I remember climbing it when I was 17! On our final full day we sailed across Loch Tay and back in a gig, a substantial sized sailing boat. 

The "Dawn Treader", our trusty boat

shawl progress

Back home now, I am about two thirds of the way through the shawl and it is working out beautifully. I shall enjoy finishing it and remember my special time away as I do so.