WIP Wednesday: Spring KAL

Over on my Ravelry group I am hosting a Spring KAL. A fun relaxed KAL with very few rules and lots of happy spring-like knitting.

It doesn't need to be one of my patterns, it can be socks, shawls, mitts, even a full scale sweater if you have the stamina.

Just cast on anytime from now onwards and finish before May 30th. Post your cast on post and project pictures over in the group thread to qualify for one of the three prizes and tag your project with #springiscoming.

You can also join in on Instagram with the hashtag #springKAL

As for my spring project. I have chosen a Hitchhiker in some beautiful yarn from the Golden Skein..

A delicious blend of wool and bamboo, nothing says spring to me more than these vibrant yellows and greens.

Happy days.

WIP Wednesday - Naming and Shaming

This post is by way of naming a shaming a work-in-progress which has been lingering for far too long.

It is loosely based on the Mitered Crosses blanket by the talented Mason-Dixon Knitting ladies and has been a pleasure to work on. The yarn is fabulous - Shilasdair Luxury dk yarn which is a blend of british lambswool, cashmere, baby camel and angora. It has just the right amount of fuzziness, delicious hand-dyed tonal variation and is feels wonderful.

Indeed, it was recently enthused about by Juju Vail from Loop London and the ladies from Pom Pom magazine in their new podcast or Pomcast as they charmingly call it.

The pattern, based on mitered squares is fun and portable. There are some ends to weave in but I have been strict with myself and so each finished square is all done and dusted.

So far I have 12 completed squares (and another 5 waiting for their cream border) and I estimate that I need about 36.

So, if it is such a lovely project and such a delight to work on why on earth does my Ravelry page insist that I started it nearly a year ago - May 2013 to be precise. A mistake surely?

But no, it doesn't lie. The sad fact is that I am too easily distracted by other projects. Too easily lured away by the the new and shiny.

So this post is away of me 'outing' my project and stating loudly and clearly...by the time it is cosy blanket weather again I WILL have a finished blanket.... probably.

A new shawl

No sooner is one shawl off the needles then I'm powerless to resist casting on another.

It didn't help that one of my favourite shawl designers - Sue Lazenby has a new e-book out and no sooner had I caught sight of her latest shawl - The Lichen & Moss Shawl from her Celtic Woodland Collection - then the Paypal purchase has whizzed through and I was hunting for the perfect yarn.

This collection (a bargain at £12.50) had 5 lovely patterns for shawls, cowls and a hat. All in the fabulous textured stitch patterns that Sue is becoming known for.

The shawl comes in two sizes - a 'standard' shawl size which uses 100g 4ply yarn and a larger size which looks wonderfully wrappable and which requires 200g 4ply. No prizes for guessing which one I wanted to make.

I found 2 skeins of Knitting Goddess 4ply sock yarn in a lovely semi-solid caramel/beige colourway and I was away:

Most of this was knit during the wildly exciting Six Nations rugby on Saturday but I'm loving the pattern and am planning to knit on it a little more today after I have done my 'chores'.