Quite a few years I splurged and got myself the Haapsalu Shawl Book. It’s a beautiful stitch dictionary/Estonian knitting history book. It’s one of my very favorites. And I’ve been meaning to take a stitch pattern from that book, replace the nupps with beads, and make a lovely shawlette for as long as I’ve owned it. Finally it’s done!

I am not a big nupp fan. I find them fiddly, and I rarely think the result is worth the effort. Your mileage may vary of course. Some folks adore nupps. Not me. But beads… swoon. Why I haven’t designed with beads yet is beyond me. Really. Why haven’t I? I definitely need more beads in my life.

Brindille is the French word for twig. And the patterning is of course one of the Estonian twig patterns. Why are words in other languages so much lovelier? If I named this pattern “twig” it would just be odd. And slightly guttural sounding. But Brindille sounds very fancy. And fancy it is!

This shawlette is worked asymmetrically – from tip to side edge in Sincere Sheep‘s Agleam yarn in Cumulus. It’s a superwash merino/tencel blend that has an amazingly soft hand and a luminous sheen. The beads are 6/0 seed beads procured from AC Moore in a flat amethyst colorway. They were applied using a fishing line method by the sample knitter, but the pattern calls for a tiny crochet hook – which is how I prefer to do it. You can even string the beads if you like – it’s up to you!

Needles: Size 6 needles (4.0 mm)
Yarn: Sincere Sheep Agleam in the Cumulus Colorway – 412 yards to 4 oz.
Gauge: 20 stitches and 24 rows = 4 inches in blocked stockinette
Size: Approximately 42″ wide and 24″ deep

Brindille is available on Ravelry for $6.00 USD!

I’m starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I took on a lot of projects after the winter TNNA and came home with a ton of gorgeous yarn. Somehow I didn’t manage to take a before pictures of this lovely Keen yarn from the Sincere Sheep. But the after is so lovely that we won’t feel sad.

Sarla is my new favorite thing. I didn’t actually get to knit this one. I have finally started hiring sample knitters. And my first experience was all kinds of awesome. Her name is Brenda. If you are a designer and you try to steal her things will get ugly. She did three shawlette samples for me. And this is the first beauty!

It blocks into a 3/4 circle kind of shape that is perfect for sitting on your shoulders. And it’s reversible!!!! That’s right. Totally reversible. So only pretty shows no matter what.

Sarla is offered with written and charted instructions. And it’s way easier than it looks! Can you knit? Can you purl? Can you yarnover? Can you pick up stitches? Then you can make this shawlette!

Needles: Size 6 needles (4.0 mm)
Yarn: Sincere Sheep Keen in the Virid Colorway – 460 yards to 4 oz.
Gauge: 20 stitches and 26 rows = 4 inches in blocked garter
Size: Approximately 52″ wide and 18 deep

Sarla is available on Ravelry for $6.00 USD.

I went looking for a new photo spot today and this is what I found nestled behind a toddler’s playground. And I wanted to chuck the photoshoot and set off and see where the paths might take me. When I was a kid I didn’t play on playgrounds – I played in the woods. We built clubhouses out of people’s cast offs and branches and sheets. There was always somewhere to explore. This place needs exploring and I plan on taking the boys as soon as we can!

But the reason I was out “in the woods” today was to photograph this beauty. Lawsonia.

It’s a crescent shaped shawlette (why yes I am addicted to these) cast-on and worked in my favorite method with a gorgeous leafy edging and finished off with crochet loops. The yarn is not quite semi-solid and not quite variegated. I guess you would call it a tonal. But the large areas of stockinette and the strong lace motifs stand up nicely to the blues and greens with hints of purple.

Lawsonia is on sale for the rest of this week for 25% off to celebrate it’s unveiling. This baby has been a long time in the works. Circumstances conspired to make it’s original debut untenable but now finally you get to see her.

And in a lucky coincidence a good friend of mine has a new shawl debuting today as well. The Ceili Shawl was supposed to come out with Lawsonia, so we thought it was only fitting that they come out together. They actually use a part of the same lace motif – totally a surprise as they were supposed to be in the same publication – so we’re calling them sisters!

If you comment here on this entry you can win a copy of both Lawsonia and the Ceili Shawl for your very own and you can knit up these lovely sister shawlettes. The winner will be drawn next Tuesday, April 16th. Head on over to Tabetha’s blog and leave a comment there for another chance to win both patterns!

Needles: Size 6 needles (4.0 mm) and size E hook (3.5 mm)
Yarn: Socktupus Sokkusu Original in the Triton colorway (433 yards to 100g)
Gauge: 18 stitches and 28 rows = 4 inches in blocked stockinette
Size: Approximately 60″ wide and 14 1/2″ deep

Lawsonia is available on Ravelry for $6.00 USD 

Sometimes you just want something fast and sweet. With squishy garter stitch and just the right amount of lace.

A little something to keep the chill off during the last dregs of this seemingly interminable winter (yes even in Florida).

Jovia is just right. It’s crescent shaped, with garter stitch short rows and picot-edged lace. It’s good for a beginner with written and charted directions.

Jovia was designed for the Stitch Jones yarn club and is now available for purchase.

Needles: Size 8 needles (5.0 mm)
Yarn: Madelinetosh Tosh DK (225 yards to 100g)
or Stitch Jones Pure BFL Light Worsted (250 yards to 100g)
Gauge: 14 stitches and 22 rows = 4 inches in blocked garter
Size: Approximately 58″ wide and 12″ deep

Jovia is available on Ravelry for $6.00 USD!