Almost Done: Bluebells and Roses Shrug

Here's the shrug, finally, almost done. Note, it hasn't been blocked yet.

Unfortunately, it doesn't fit because I changed the yarn from the previous shrug and this one isn't quite as loose when knit. :-( Sniff. I really, really love it, especially the colour, but it will go into my Etsy shop to make someone else happy.



Here are the sleeves in more detail - I shaped them like bluebells and I love the little points and the way they make the shrug into something really special. The shrug still needs blocking to ensure the sleeves fall into perfect bluebell shapes.


Here are the three rose brooches. Each brooch is different and has been embellished with a little lace (some of it vintage with a teeny bit of aged staining).


The brooches make the shrug really versatile as they can be worn in a variety of ways, here are just some:

- wear them in a clump like shown,
- leave them off and make it into an every day shrug,
- wear one on each sleeve and the third on the collar or bow,
- wear them in a clump at the lower back or arranged on the bow.




The shrug would be perfect worn with a pair of jeans or with a wedding gown. It's been designed to be as versatile as possible. :-)

The yarn is handpainted and varies from an almost (pale) cornflower blue to turquoise to pale aqua green to silvery white. The 'overall' colour impression works with a variety of other colours - from a white wedding dress to a brown evening gown to a pair of jeans to a wine red or dark green dress.

Look out for it in my Etsy shop.

In Progress: Icy Shrug

This is what I've been working on when the mermaid shawl got too much. The shawl is very fiddly to do and sometimes I just need some time to think about what I'll do next or how things fit together (it is a bit like a jigsaw).

The shrug is knitted in the same way as the Smolder shrug, but with a few little changes to ensure a better fit (the red shrug is a little looser).


It's not quite finished - hence the stitch holders - because I ran out of yarn. Well, not quite, but I did not have enough to make the bell shaped sleeves I want for this. I'd like to wear it in Summer and Winter, and thought 3/4 length sleeves are therefore better and look prettier with this colour.

I ordered my yarn last week and unfortunately it wasn't in stock - BUT credit to Nicola at YarnBox she ordered it away and it arrived today - one day earlier than expected. :-)



Here you can see the beautiful yarn (Louisa Harding, Grace Handpainted in shade 02, aqua) in detail - I've used a seed stich for the tie:


And here is the plain stotcking stitch:



The yarn is absolutely wonderful to knit with. It has a well defined stitch pattern and the colour variation is well done and there's no pooling. It's half silk, half merino and light and very soft with a beautiful soft sheen. Perfect! I can only recommend it.

The shrug will also have some removable flower brooches (3 altogether) which I can use to dress it up or down. I can't wait for it to be finished as it's just so lovely.... :-)

Smolder Shrug

This shrug took me some time, especially as it was supposed to be a cardigan!



I used a pattern but a different yarn which changed the shape. and so I ended up with a cardigan that just didn't look like it should... Here's a link to the original pattern.

So I unravelled the bottom of the cardigan (it's knitted from the top down) and changed it into a shrug. Much, much better. :-)

The picture doesn't really do it justice, but it's far too hot to try and take more pictures.... You'll get the idea. :-)



The yarn is Rowan Summer Tweed in Smolder and a little of a merino/mulberry silk yarn in a lovely dark red. The Rowan Summer Tweed is half silk half cotton and has a lovely texture.

It was very quick to knit - the whole cardigan only took me 4 days. Without the changes and extras it would have been really easy, however, I prefer my version of it. :-)

Quick update - Featured in the Treasury and Presents

It's been a busy few days - working on the allotment all weekend to get the soil ready and planted, knitting like mad to finish a birthday present and so on, and on....

However, I did have a nice surprise as my Dragon Lace wrist warmers are currently featured in a list for the Treasury West on Etsy. I am very pleased about that. :-)



Here are - as promised - the pictures of the wrist warmers and shrug I made for my sister. I hope they've arrived now.


Vanilla Wrist Warmers

My sister wanted a pair of white wrist wamers. I thought really, really white would be totally impractical so made them in Sirdar's Just Soya in a vanilla cream colour.


They are very simply knitted with a ribbed pattern and one single cable to hold their shape nicely around the wrist.



A few buttons in my sister's favourite colours jazz them up a bit.


The Just Soya yarn (really, it is made from soya) is one of the nicest yarns I've knitted so far. It's soft and holds its shape nicely and it looks great knitted up. I can only recommend it.


Emerald Shrug

It took forever and a day to find the right colour in cotton for this shrug. I ordered a few green yarns from the net before I managed to find this on www.yarnstick.com.

The shrug is knitted starting with the cuff, then all the way up to the shoulder with half the back. Then I did the same for the other side and grafted them together with Kitchener stitch.

The cuffs have button holes for the satin ribbon laced through it, which looks pretty but also means the cuffs can be adjusted for various wrist sizes.

The back also has button holes and satin ribbon laced through. Shrugs of this design often slightly balloon out at the back and this allows a nice snug fit that can be adjusted as required.

The collar was knitted separately by picking up the stitches all around the opening (and took forever as there were so many stitches, especially as the stitches increased every so often), but again, it looks nice and makes it easier to wear.

The yarn is the most gorgeous (true) emerald green and was held double. It was lovely to knit with and drapes nicely.

I am currently working simultaneously on a present for a friend and a top for myself.

Sakura Blossom Shrug

This shrug has been finished for a while, but I wanted to get some daylight pictures of it as well.

Here's the shrug on my petite mannequin with the very, very tiny waist:

I have used pink variegated (hand spun, hand painted) merino/seacell for the main body of the shrug. The sleeves are made from Rowan Kidsilk Night in pale pink. All the flowers (painstakingly knitted) have a glass pearl centre each and are all made from various shades/types of Rowan Kidsilk (Night, Spray and Aura). The flower at the bottom in the centre is actually a brooch that can either be worn on the shrug or anywhere else - for example, on a bag. There is a pale pink organza ribbon to hold the shrug tight round your waist as well.

My friend Caroline (the one who is running the marathon - see the link on the left) kindly modeled the shrug for me. She's petite but the shrug will fit up to a medium/large due to the cut of the garment.

Here you can see the back of the shrug.


And here you can see the width of the sleeves.


The sleeves - although warm and perfect for a wedding in Winter/Spring in a cold church or registery office - are soft as clouds.



Finally, above the beautiful flowers in various shades of red/pink.

The shrug will go in my Etsy shop by the end of the week. If you want to snap it up before, it's £70 + P&P.

Black Orchid Shrug

Here's my latest shrug - finished yesterday afternoon - of course, by that time it was too dark to take pictures!

Black Orchid Shrug

This shrug was a story and a half. I bought a pattern for a wrap. I bought some wool and thought the two would go together, so I started on the sleeve. I got to the main part and decided I didn't like the pattern they'd used so I found one I liked much better... which was for some socks originally. LOL However, I liked it, but as I was knitting I realised that the 100% wool, although the right gauge was far too heavy for a 6ft wrap! Okay, so mid-knitting I decided to turn it into a shrug similar to my Shosenshi blue shrug.

I love the deep red (it's even darker in real life, but for some reason the camera always sees red when it sees red (you know what I mean).

Below is the knitted lace pattern I used:


The sleeves in the original pattern would have been plain ribbed 3/4 sleeves which I thought was just not right with the dramatic colour of the shrug, so I added the tulip cuffs.


... and finished the cuffs and the collar with black crochet edging.


The shrug is warm, cosy and looks great. I am so pleased with it. :-) Wearing it right now and it keeps me warm without restricting me, much better than any cardigan.

... now I am off to knit some more. My latest project are some modified fingerless wrist warmers, similar to the previous ones, but I simplified the pattern, and I am making them longer. Oh, and there will be some extra bits... AND they are in the most gorgeous deep charcoal cotton/cashmere yarn... Watch this space.

The Indigo Paper Linen Shrug - FINALLY!!!

Here it is finally - Le Shrug! LOL

Took me forever and a day and Caroline was getting extremely impatient to see it (so was I!).


The yarn I used is Habu Shosenshi Paper Linen yarn and the yarn looks a bit like raffia, although thinner, softer and more delicate. It's not easy to knit with but stronger than it looks and I love the way the finished product looks. The yarn (and other lovely ones) can be bought either in the UK at K1 Yarns or in the States at Habu Textiles, the latter has a far great selection being the original importer.


The pattern I used was a free pattern from Lion Brand. There are loads of free patterns if you subscribe to their mailing list. Unfortunately, the pattern required a totally different yarn (mohair which I cannot stand because it itches!) so I had to make quite a lot of alterations and resize the pattern. Part of the reason why it took so long.


Above you can see the ruffle that goes all the way round the neck and the bottom of the shrug in detail.


Above you can see the alterations I made to the sleeves. I added a crochet trim to make the sleeves flare more at the bottom. With the mohair they would have flared automatically, but with the paper linen I had to make adjustments.

Above you can see the main body in detail. I love the intricate pattern the yarn makes with a simple garter stitch. It almost looks like chain mail.

The finished shrug is incredibly light and makes a beautiful rustling sound - almost like leaves in Autumn. The indigo colour is soft and natural and like an Autumn sky.