I’ve been working on this lace shawl pattern recently and I can’t get enough of it! The stitch pattern evolved for a hat, but this yarn, Oh So Fine! from Cat and Sparrow is so beautiful I wanted to make the most of the skein. It’s knitting up really quickly, despite the cast on being 275 stitches. I’m approaching the end of the lace section and will be working short rows in garter stitch next to create a crescent shape. I’m excited to see how it looks all finished and blocked!
This is a pattern I designed for my son last year when he was one. I always had the intention of grading it up to adult sizes and now it’s finished! If you’re interested to test the pattern, please get in touch. The deadline is the end of November 2023.
Thanks!
It feels like forever since I last released a pattern. Having two kids, starting a business in between them and lack of sleep didn’t leave much time for design work! The good news is I am back on track and I now have ideas spilling out of me now the littles are out of the house a bit more in the daytime.
I’m really pleased with this one, the pattern was such a joy to knit and it grew really quickly. I love knitting lace and working with 4ply for hats, it’s always much warmer than you think. The pattern is made up of a series of intricate yarn overs and decreases, forming an offset stacking arch effect. Decreases are worked into the pattern in the crown, creating a star on the top.
I was swatching for this hat last year but I couldn’t work out what I was going to do with it. I really love how the pattern looks in Coopknits Socks Yeah! as the stitch definition is amazing. However one of my testers Carola (@Poachtna) worked it in a mohair blend which looks equally fantastic:
The pattern is multi-sized from teen to large adult and is worked from the bottom up in the round.
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Socks are done!!
So this was Sunday – a trip to the botanical gardens in Clifton (I had no idea they were there!) followed by a picnic and some knitting in the park. It feels like summer might be on it’s way!
Here is the second of my patterns originally published in the new issue of Simply Knitting. These mittens are seriously cosy, knitted in Blacker Swan Falkland Islands wool DK, which sooo soft! The pattern came about by mistake when I was charting an old vintage chevron pattern and messed it up, so I flipped it over and ended up with this:
© Philip Sowels Future Publishing
The pattern is a simple two-colour standed design which is fun to knit. The mittens are worked in the round, increasing for the thumb, which is then added on afterwards. The pattern is charted clearly and is available in 2 sizes: 18-20cm (7-8in) and 21-23cm (81/4-9) in.
For more information please see the product page here.
© Philip Sowels and Future Publishing
Finally I’ve re-knitted the sleeves on my Aleph cardigan – see here for post detailing the problems. It fits brilliantly now, I’ll put up a better photo when it’s dry!
New socks are coming along nicely!
This week will be mostly spent knitting on the beach, perfect! We’ve handed our house over to our trust friend Nic for the week while we get some rays in Cornwall. And I don’t want to jinx anything but so far the weather is like summer!
This is the first post I’ve made by phone – we have no Internet in our little slate cottage, so while Chris is spending time in the surf I have been knitting, taking photos and exploring some lovely beaches!
This is the third beach I’ve sat on this week, watching life go by, dogs chasing frisbees and the tide come in. I’ve been knitting a lot, however I can’t show you any pictures as it’s for a gift and I know the recipient will be reading (hi mum!)
It’s been really lovely having a proper taste of summer! We managed to time our trip with the clocks going forward, so not only has the weather warmed us up but it’s now light til 8, finally 🙂
We had our first BBQ of the year on Monday – some local mackerel caught in the morning, potatoes we cooked in foil on the coals and some veggies. The bottle of wine we bought from the pub was so awful we made some sangria out of it, which washed the lot down a treat!
So I don’t really have so much to say today, I just thought I’d share these pictures. Knitting photos to follow soon!
Have a great week!
Hello! It’s nearing the end of the week now and I’m looking forward to a weekend in London, going to watch the preview of the Paper Cinema’s Odyssey at Battersea Arts Centre, exciting! If you haven’t seen these guys before and you like theatre, animation and live music, then I seriously recommend you book tickets asap as it’s selling out fast!
Hopefully I’ll get a bit of knitting done on the way there, my hat pattern is all written out now but in my sleepiness last night I managed to knit about 16 rounds with the wrong size needles, so I need to frog it back to the ribbing later and start again. The pattern is going to be a sort of zigzag rib, but I haven’t done enough rows for it to show up yet so you’ll have to wait for a picture!
So busy, busy it is, and still no time to teach myself how to use my knitting machines!
All this wool arrived on Tuesday though, which should be enough to keep me occupied for a while! It’s the same yarn from in the photo I posted last week, Erika Knights ‘Vintage’ in ‘Drizzle’ – here you can find a list of stockists.
On another note I wanted to share this picture, which I found in Exeter Quay Antiques Centre in the summer. I’m not sure where it is or when it was taken, but it looks like it was taken at a girls finishing school, they all seem quite intent on their knitting!
