New Ideas

Whenever I finish working on a big design, I always feel the need to start new things. It doesn't matter how many projects I've got on the go, it's as if getting something done frees up space in my brain for new ideas. This last week I finally got all the proofreading done on this year's Christmas series and I also finished my crochet Granny Square blanket. That's two big things out of the way at once so, obviously, I've been bombarded with new ideas and I thought you might like to see a few of them.

You can see where the idea for this one came from. Having just finished a giant Granny square blanket, I still hadn't had enough of this simple technique. A crocheter actually sent me a request for a pattern for a simple Granny triangle shawl and although I don't normally design to order, this happened to coincide with my need to keep crocheting groups of trebles. At least this one should be a lot quicker to make.

I've got another crochet shawl on the go at the moment but it's evolving into a strange shape ...

This sort of thing happens a lot when you make it up as go along; you just have to work with it. I suspect that curved top edge will resolve itself into a design feature - a rolled collar perhaps?

Here's another shawl that I'm letting do its own thing, this time a knitted one.

I was prompted to start this one by a technique I worked out for one of my little Christmas patterns. And no, I'm not going to tell you what that pattern is! Anyway, I think I could also use the same technique as the basis for a picture frame but I'm resisting starting that one for the time being.

The shawl is twisting round nicely at the moment; it remains to be seen whether it will behave itself so well when I get to the other side. I'm going to call this one 'Whirligig' (or possibly 'Whirlygig'). Isn't the yarn lovely? It's Stylecraft Cabaret and it's a beautifully soft yarn with a bit of added sparkle. A few years ago, I made my Lucky Shawl with autumnal shades of this yarn and was glad to discover that it's still around.

Lucky Shawl

For the past few days I've been knitting lots of little samples for this scarf, trying to find the right yarn for one of the colours.

I'm using an exciting double-sided brioche technique which calls for double pointed needles. The stitch pattern is the same on the other side but the colours are reversed. The first problem I had was finding long enough needles in the size I wanted. Mine were just that bit too short and I kept pushing the stitches off the end. I resolved this problem by the simple expedient of going up a needle size - I had longer 4 mm double pointed needles for some reason.

Then there was the yarn. I started off with the variegated one which is a ball of Sirdar Jewelspun, a new aran weight yarn that caught my eye in a wool shop recently.

I chose this rich autumnal colourway (shade 843) and then looked for a plain yarn to contrast with it. I tried cream, I tried navy blue, I tried grey, I tried black, I tried gold ... you get the idea. Eventually, I came upon this purple, soft yarn in Wilkinsons of all places. 

According to the ball band, it should be quite a lot thicker than the variegated one but they're both quite softly spun and seem to go together well. I did the 'twist the yarns together and run your fingers over it' test and they passed. To do this, make a loop in one yarn, pass the other one through it so you have two, linked loops. Then twist them both and run your fingers across the join. If it's smooth, then they'll work to a similar tension. This would be easier to explain with a picture, hang on a minute ...

Anyway, back to the scarf. I found the technique in the excellent Knitting Brioche by Nancy Marchant. This book is a wonderful resource, full of detailed stitch patterns and some lovely patterns to use them with too. I've used a very basic brioche stitch for my scarf but there are lots more. I see she's published further books using this fascinating technique; I must look out for them.

As normal, I've got several blanket patterns on the go, two of which I'm keen to get back to now. The first one is going to be called 'Freckles' and I'm knitting the squares for it in one of my favourite stitches - fabric stitch. This produces a knitted fabric that looks almost woven..

Then there's this complex crochet blanket which I'm absolutely itching to get to work on again ...

There are lots more geometric shapes waiting to be sewn together for my starry table runner too ...

Not that this project has been neglected lately but, when I tipped out the bowl of triangles to take this photo, a spider scuttle out too. I really must get on and sew them together.

The last of my new ideas is these little knitted pyramids.

At the moment I'm just knitting them in random colours and playing with them but I have plans to turn them into an actual something.

I hope you've enjoyed this rather random look at what I'm thinking and planning at the moment. I've just started the fifteenth folder of my designs - I'm going to need a new shelf soon at this rate.