Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Monsoon Shawl Workshop at Trillium Yarns

Trillium Yarns 
On Sunday, I taught my Monsoon Shawl Workshop at Trillium Yarns in Morristown NJ. As you walk down the street, you can't help but notice the pretty storefront. Step inside and you will see that Beverly has stocked her store with a beautiful selection of yarns. It was exciting to see what yarns and what colors my students chose for their shawls. Everyone chose a different color and they all looked great. The Monsoon Shawl is one of those patterns that works with many colorways. Basically, I don't think you can choose a wrong color.

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Look at all these knitters working hard on their Monsoon Shawls. For my class, I provided written instructions for the knitters that may not be use to reading from a chart. The magazine only provides the charts for the pattern. To my delight, many of them decided to challenge themselves and work from the chart instead of the written instructions.

 
I am so proud of these ladies.They worked really hard to learn all the techniques and stitches involved to make the Monsoon Shawl. Hopefully, I taught them some new things that they have never tried, but I definitely know that they are now all ready to tackle that shawl. You can't tell from this picture, but there is one special lady in the back that started her shawl before coming to class and was almost done by the end of class. I hope all my students put up pictures of their finished shawls on Ravelry so I can admire them.

Wednesday, February 04, 2015

A Collaboration Project Between Anzula and Stitch Sprouts

A bunch of us, Stitch Sprout Designers, have been secretly working on a collaboration project between Anzula and Stitch Sprouts. And now it's finally time to reveal the project. Stitch Sprouts has released 3 pattern booklets that feature 3 of Anzula's most popular yarn lines: For Better or Worsted, Squishy and Cricket. These pattern booklets are now available to order in print for wholesale through Stitch Sprouts. And they are also available via Ravelry, and the Ravelry in-store program! Each booklet features 5 beautiful patterns for just $18 (suggested retail).

You can read more about it from Stitch Sprouts blog post about the booklets, and also from Anzula's blog post.

I was very excited to be one of the designers contributing to the booklets.
For the Squishy Booklet, I designed the Ginto Shawl using 2 skeins of Squishy in the colorway Saffron. It features a Faroese-style center panel for the spine of the shawl and lace rib for the body of the shawl, ending with a picot bind off. Although it is a large shawl, it can be easily sized down or up. The modification is noted in the Notes section of the pattern.
Collage 

For the For Better or Worsted Booklet, I designed the Tekstur Hat and Tekstur Cowl. Each project takes 1 skein of yarn. Perfect for beginning knitters looking for something other than the knit stitch. It's simple but has an interesting stitch pattern which creates a beautiful textured knit fabric.
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