A Christmas Shawl

Well, I’ve been working on this for a couple months off and on and its finally finished! The picture isn’t the best but you get the idea. I’ll put a link to the pattern in case anyone wants to make it. It was a free pattern from the i’net so I’m not worried about it. It’s quite long so it will really cover her arms nicely. It’s made from Bernat’s Handcrafter Holiday yarn in snow white with silver strands running through it. It is 100% cotton. She lives in Florida and cotton is good for those cool nights, but won’t be as hot as a regular yarn would have been. Since she is also in and out of water a LOT, it will be easy to just toss in the washer/dryer. The pattern you can find at www.redheart.com and its called “The Friendship Shawl”. It’s pretty easy, but even still they assumed a certain understanding of how to do a couple of the things. It’s sewn in two panels, but there isn’t a word of instruction on how they want you to fasten them together. I did a basic whip stitch after I tried to insert a knit panel in moss stitch and ran into problems with that. Also the ends you pretty much make up as you go because it was not great directions for the row ends so you always had to count all your stitches to be sure you have the right amount, then wing it each row. It was a bit odd that way. They also use, of course, redheart’s soft yarn, but you can use whatever you want and it worked just fine with cotton.

The pin is handmade by me. The middle medallion is shell and I wire-wrapped it in silver. The two blue beads I made with polymer clay (did I ever mention I made jewelry and sell it in town?) and I made it in shades of blue to remind me of the ocean and it has shimmer in it. The silver beads are pewter and they are hung on what is called a Kilt Pin. You can use these pins for everything from actual kilts, to shawl pins, scarf pins, hat pins or just regular pins on shirts or coats.  I liked all the silver because of the silver strands running through the white yarn.

Twisted Wrister Bag

This is the project I just finished. If you like it and want the pattern, it’s called “Twisted Wrister Bag” by Natalie Wilson. iKnitiative is the company that put out the pattern.

Mine came out a bit different than I thought, but that’s not necessarily bad or good, just different. I think my choice of yarn was the biggest difference.This called for a worsted weight alpaca/merino blend. I just used very cheap Red Heart from Walmart. I had a partial skein sitting around from something else and decided to use it to see if I could even do this pattern. Then if it was totally awful I wouldn’t feel bad. LOL. I think were I to make this again, which is a real possibility since I do like it very much, I’m going to use one size smaller needles. This called for 7′s. I also didn’t really understand the 3 needle bind off, so I think next time I would do a kitchener stitch for the bottom. Still, I am happy with how it came out. I didn’t put on a button and now that it’s done, not sure I’m going to with this one. I’m using it already though and am happy with my first try on it.