Well hello my wonderful ones. How are we all on this rather drizzly day? I hope you are all well and coping with the world as we know it. To all you ones with little sprogs – how’s half term gone? Definitely nice not to be rushing them with homeschooling and all the usual routine, for a bit. I don’t know about anyone else’s little ones, but mine we’re definitely ready for a break. Think they get to a point where they just want to play & let their imaginations run. Just be kids. I think this might be the reason why our landing now looks like some kind of playmobil world! Haha! We have a veterinary hospital, a school, a holiday home, an aquarium & some kind of coast guard sea situation going on. So I reckon we have most areas covered! Funny.
Heyho, guessing its just life as we know at the moment. I do wonder if there is going to be a big announcement next week. It’ll be interesting to see if schools are back in. We shall see. Heyho, if in doubt, just keep on crocheting, well that’s how I am getting through lockdown. That and knitting.
Spring is starting to really show. Always makes me feel hopefully when I see these little guys popping out.
So I just wanted to pop on and talk to you about the wonderful world of Banshee Yarns. These are the most super soft and seriously scrumptious yarns. They are so soft. Each one is beautifully dyed by the wonderful Michelle over at The Loveliest Yarn Company. Here’s the link to her wonderful website.
I first heard of the lovely Michelle in the summer, when I came across her knit school and one of the KALs she was doing. I think it was a shawl KAL, where you learnt all about how to knit shawls and the different techniques that create them. As I have been definitely being upping the amount of knitting I have been doing, I was rather intrigued.
So when the lovely Abby, Lisa and Michelle did their BadAss Friday celebration of yarny loveliness, I couldn’t resist trying some of Michelle’s Banshee yarn.
It’s called Banshee Yarns. (Don’t you just love the Banshee Yarn logo!!) I love her motto too – Colours To Haunt You. How fab is that. I reckon colour does haunt you. They definitely do for me. They seem to call to you. And as Michelle says – haunts you until you cave and buy it. As you all know, I am a serious lover of all things rainbowy, so I feel that colours can really sing together. They definitely excite me and I just can’t resist a gorgeous yarn with a stunning colour way.
So with the Banshee yarns range, Michelle dyes them up in all different bases of yarn, with different weights. This means you can find one of her beautiful yarns for any kind of project. I couldn’t resist the Alpaca DK yarn, which is a blend of baby alpaca, silk and cashmere.
I mean literally, how scrumptious and delicious is that. It’s so luxurious and soft and works up a treat. Many of the other weights in the range, have slightly different blends depending on which one you choose. Trust me, which ever one you pick, you will not be disappointed.
I thought I would choose the double knit weight, to create some little wrist warmers. I don’t know about anyone else, but I seem to be struggling with being cold, so much more at the moment. You all know, my feet can be incased in 5 pairs of slipper socks and leg warmers and they are still a little chilly. So I realised that as soon as my wrists are warm, my hands seem to stay a little warmer too.
Anyways, I have created a pattern for both simple wrist warmers (ones that just go on your wrist) and wrist warmers that go over your thumb too. I will hopefully be publishing the pattern up soon, but here’s a sneaky peak of them made up in Michelle’s DK Banshee Yarn.
The pattern will come with two sizes, kids and adults. Really hope you like them. Can’t wait to share them with you.
So all in all, I cannot recommend Michelle’s Banshee Yarn enough. It’s so utterly scrumptious and luxurious. Can’t wait to buy some more. Ekk. I may have this little baby in my stash and thinking it would make some wonderful leg warmers.
But I am so tempted with one of the purple colour ways to go with it. So might have to wait a little. We shall see. It’s whether I have a weak moment. Ekk.
Well, I think that is all for now. Just want to wish you all a lovely rest of the weekend. And here’s hoping for a little bit of normality sometime soon.
New Month, new week, new day… new pattern. (Super excited about this one!)
Hello my lovely ones. How are we all? January 2021 has finally come to an end. Did anyone do dry January? I am mightily impressed if you did. Especially if you have little ones at home and homeschooling is on the cards. I’m afraid we didn’t, but there’s always next year!
Our January seems to have gone in a bit of a blur to be honest. The lockdown started so soon after Christmas, that it all seems to roll into one. Lockdown seems to feel more normal this time, which worries me slightly. But I’m guessing we have just all adapted and just getting on with it! Really feel for all you out there that are trying to get a job done, whilst homeschooling and keeping the house going! Hats off to you all. Let’s hope that this is the last final push to kick the virus back to Timbuktu!!
Hope is on its way though…
So as it’s rather cold and chilly Monday evening, I thought I would share my latest design with you all. This is my Advent Shawl.
I have made this from my magical Advent Calendar from the amazing Abby over at Orchidean Luxury Yarns. Here’s is the link to her wonderful website.
If you are one of the lucky ones, that had one, you will know that this calendar, was on a whole different level to any other calendar!
It was filled with 24 little sumptuous hand dyed balls of yummy yarn, 24 stitch markers and some wonderful Dōterra Essential Oils. And if that wasn’t enough, it even came with a full skein of yarn, a row counter and a full bottle of Cheer Essential oil that was to be opened on Christmas Day. It was such a treat. If you are interested for this years calendar, I’ve popped a review on here, so that you can see what it’s all about.
So I have been super excited about sharing this Advent Shawl with you. I have always wanted to create a simple, yet elegant rainbow shawl. So when I saw all the little balls of rainbow heaven that kept appearing from my advent calendar from Abby at Orchidean Luxury Yarns, I couldn’t resist designing one.
The colours go so well together and create such a gentle array of rainbow shades. I had great fun working out the order.
This shawl would also be a great way to use up lots of odds and ends of yarn. The fact that there is no colour pattern, so you can change colour whenever you like, gives you the option to use whatever yarn you prefer.
If you just want to use one colour then that is fine too or even a nice variegated yarn. Can’t wait to see what you decide. Another option for this shawl is to make it in a different weight yarn. It would be lovely and quick to make up in a double knit yarn. Just use a 5mm crochet hook. Or alternatively this is one that I have started, but in a lace weight yarn, so I’m using a 3mm crochet hook.
Right, so let’s get started.
Supplies –
This Advent Shawl is made up of 450g of 4ply yarn. But you can use less, if you would like to make it smaller. (350g would be enough for a smaller shawl.) With Abby’s Advent Calendar, there was a few little bits that I didn’t use. This would have been when I didn’t want the colour change in a too dominant place. (E.g at the tip of the triangle!)
You will also need a 4mm crochet hook, a pair of scissors and blunt ended tapestry needle to sew in your ends. You also need to block your work, so I use sponge floor tiles and some long ended pins for this. (But you can use whatever blocking method you prefer.)
Level – Easy
Stitches –
Magic Ring – Fold over the yarn to make the loop. Insert your hook through the loop and grab the working yarn (long piece) and pull through the loop. Hold the tail and the working yarn and pull so that the knot tightens, but you still have a loop. This has created a magic ring.
Chain (ch) – To make a chain, place the yarn over the hook then pull it through the loop on your hook.
ch2sp – This is known as the Chain 2 Space.
Double Crochet (dc) – Insert the hook through the stitch, front to back, then yarn over hook and pull back through stitch. You will have two loops on your hook. Then yarn over your hook and pull through both loops.
Half Treble Crochet (htr) – A half treble crochet is basically one less movement than a treble. So yarn over hook, insert through space/stitch, yarn over hook, pull back through space/stitch. There should be 3 loops on your hook. Then yarn over hook and pull through all 3 loops.
Back Loop Half Treble Crochet (blhtr) – Yarn over your hook and insert the hook through the second part of the stitch, front to back, then yarn over hook and pull back through stitch. You will have three loops on your hook. Then yarn over your hook and pull through all three loops.
Treble Crochet (tr) – To make a treble crochet, firstly yarn over your hook, insert through space/stitch, yarn over your hook, pull back through space/stitch. There should now be 3 loops on your hook. Then yarn over hook and pull through the first two loops, yarn over hook and pull through the last two loops.
Back Loop Treble Crochet (bltr) – Yarn over your hook and insert the hook through the second part of the stitch, front to back, then yarn over hook and pull back through stitch. You will have three loops on your hook. Then yarn over your hook and pull through the first two loops. Then yarn over your hook and pull through the last two loops.
When you are working a back loop stitch, you literally just insert your hook into the back part of the stitch. So the back V! You can see this is where the arrow is pointing.
If you need just a little bit more assurance on some of these stitches, then you can fly over to my You Tube channel for some videos. (Just follow the You Tube link at the top of the website.)
PipsTips – If you are using lots of different colours, have a little play with the order. I tend to make a tiny little swatch with each colour way. Just crochet up a few rows, just to see how the colours work together. Trust me it will save you a lot of time in the long run. (Having to do a full row, because it doesn’t go, can be rather soul destroying!)
Because of the 8 row repeat in this pattern, it’s one of those crochets, that you can work up without really thinking about it. There is no real stitch count, which is a bonus. So you can just keep on going.
One last thing before you get started – it’s always a good plan to sew in your ends in, as you are going along. It saves so much time at the end of the project and when you have finished crocheting, you can block it straight away.
Ok so here we go…
1 – Make a magic ring, ch3, then work 3tr into the ring, then chain 2 and work another 4tr stitches into the ring. Then pull the tail tight. (I tend to make a little knot here, just to keep the magic ring closed.)
2 – Turn your work, ch3, 2tr in the first stitch, then 1tr in each tr stitch in the row. Then work 1tr, ch2 and 1tr in the top of the ch2sp. Now work 1tr in each stitch in the row, finally working 2tr in the top of the chain 3 from the previous round.
3 – Turn your work, ch3, 2tr in the first stitch, then 1tr in each stitch in the row. Then work 1tr, ch2, 1tr in the ch2sp. Now work 1tr in each stitch in the row. Finally work 2tr in the top of the chain 3 from the previous round.
4 – 7 (4 rows) *Turn your work, ch3, 2bltr in the first stitch, then 1bltr each stitch in the row. Then work 1bltr, ch2, and 1bltr in the ch2sp. Now work 1tr in each stitch. Finally work 2bltr in the top of the chain 3 from the previous round.* Repeat ** four times.
8 – Turn your work, ch3, 2tr in the first stitch, then 1tr in each stitch in the row. Then work 1tr, ch2, 1tr in the ch2sp. Now work 1tr in each stitch in the row. Finally work 2tr in the top of the chain 3 from the previous round.
9 – Right so now turn your work and chain 3. Then work 2tr in the first stitch. *Now chain 1, miss 1 stitch and work 1tr in the next stitch.* Repeat this ** across the row. In the ch2sp work 1tr, ch2 and 1tr. Now work 1tr in the first stitch. *Now chain 1, miss 1 stitch and work 1tr in the next stitch.* Repeat this ** across the row. Then work 2tr in the top of the chain 3 from the row below.
10 – Right so turn your work and chain 3. Now work 2tr in the first stitch and then 1tr in the next 2 stitches and then 1tr in the first ch1sp. *Now work 1tr in the next stitch and in the next ch1sp.* Repeat this ** across the row. Finish the row with 1tr in the last 2 stitches. Now in the ch2sp, work 1tr, ch2 and 1tr. Then work 1tr in the first stitch. *Now work 1tr in the next stitch, then 1tr in the next ch1sp.* Repeat this ** across the row. Finish the row by working 1tr in the last 2 stitches and then 2tr in the top of ch3 from the row below.
Now it’s time to repeat the last 8 rows. So repeat rows 3 – 10 until you are happy with the size of your shawl. For mine, I worked these 8 rows, 13 times. But as I have said before, it’s really up to you how big you make your shawl.
Now once you are happy with the size of your shawl, you need to add the finishing rows. So if you are making your shawl with lots of different yarns, you many want to use one particular colour for this. I made sure I worked only 2 rows of the last 3 colours. This was to make sure I had a nice solid edge ocolour to my shawl.
So to finish off your shawl –
*Turn your work, ch3, 2tr in the first stitch, then 1tr in each stitch. Then in the ch2sp work 1tr, ch2 and 1tr. Now work 1tr in each stitch in the rest of the row. Finally work 2tr in the top of the chain 3 from the previous round.* Repeat this ** twice.
Now turn your work, ch1, 2dc in the first stitch, then 1dc in each stitch. Then in the ch2sp work 1dc, ch2 and 1dc. Now work 1dc in each stitch in the row. Finally work 2dc in the top of the chain 3 from the previous round.
This is your final row. Turn your work, ch2 and work 2blhtr in the first stitch, then work 1blhtr in each stitch in the row. Then in the ch2sp, work 1htr, ch2 and 1htr. Now work 1blhtr into each stitch in the row, finally working 2blhtr in the top of the chain 1 from the previous round.
Now fasten off and sew in your ends.
Blocking your work –
Now all you need to do is block your work.
I tend to use sponge floor tiles for this and long ended pins.
Here’s a little video on how to block, if you are unsure of how to block.
And there you have it, your beautiful triangular shawl. Can’t wait to see all of your creations. Don’t forget to share. You can use the tag #pipsrainbow and #adventshawl And share on any of the social media platforms.
If you any questions, just give me a shout and I will be only to happy to help.
Stay safe all.
Happy hooking.
🌈Xx
(Free pattern designed and brought to you by PipsRainbow. Thank you for not copying or recreating it. ☺️Xx)
