Too Hot for Autumn

A lot has happened since we last spoke, but the most exciting is that I finally got some ink! I had been planning my tattoo for a while (check out my Instagram for a little glimpse) and finally my lovely sister agreed to go with me so I couldn’t chicken out. I want to say that it didn’t really hurt, but I was quite ill at the time so it was battling with a lot of other aches and pains I had. Oh and I had about 48 hours of painkillers to hold my hand. Either way, yes I think I am now an addict, and yes I do want to get one that has something to do with crocheting…skull and hooks anyone?

The other exciting news is that I finally have a finished project! I have been working on so many things for so long I thought I would never knuckle down and finish one. I have finally managed to get on track, focus on one thing at once and here we are! So today I am going to talk about the gorgeous Fog Break by Kat Goldin. I have used one of Kat Goldin’s patterns before and I am always enamoured by their style and those little hand drawn diagrams! It is great to see this style throughout the Crochet Project’s shawl book 3, where this pattern and other gorgeous shawls I am destined to make can be found. This book gave me the perfect opportunity to try out some of my hand-dyed yarn. My yarn is a 4ply merino wool and nylon sock blend, making it perfect to create the drape needed for these shawls.

The colours I chose were quite different to the original foggy greys within the pattern. I started making this shawl a few weeks ago when it seemed Autumn was just around the corner so the bright orange of my Cinnamon blend and the yellow specs in my Pumpkin spice colourway seemed very seasonal. I also wanted to add a contrasting colour and so dyed up a new colourway that I am calling foxtail. My first two colours reminded me so much of leaves at the beginning of autumn, when they are still bright yellows and oranges. I wanted this new colour to reflect autumn coming to an end, with deep browns, dark grey specs and red highlights.

The majority of the pattern is worked in a simple triple crochet stitch pattern, the lacework of the contrasting panels is created using a broomstick stitch. This is something I had never tried before; the technique uses a knitting needle to add and remove stitches moving across the row. The pattern suggests that a large amount of blocking is needed to open up the stitches but, even with this, my first attempt looked much smaller and more closed than the pictures in the pattern. I rummaged through my crafting collection and found another set of needles and ended up using both a 10mm and a 6mm at the same time to create a similar effect to that seen in the pictures (if not a little smaller still). Of course, holding two needles together was a little tricky at first but once you get the first few stitches on they do most of the work for you.

I also decided to use my contrasting foxtail yarn to double crochet around the edges to tie the piece together prior to adding the lacework top. The tension of the lacework created a ruching effect with the rest of the shawl and the shape of stitches meant that there wasn’t one straight edge between the panels. Adding an edging created one line from the top to the bottom of the shawl. According to the pattern, this straight edge could be created with an aggressive blocking strategy. But since I am not good at blocking (I don’t enjoy doing it and I don’t have the right equipment for large pieces like this) I used this border to straighten up the edges before blocking with pins.

I loved making this shawl. The pattern is simple, the shape is gorgeous to wear as a shawl or a scarf and the colours have me ready and waiting for autumn to begin! Of course this weekend we are seeing gorgeous sunshine so maybe I was a bit too keen with wishing for Summer to be over. The only drawback is that pattern comes as part of a book so it is a little more pricey, but with this book you get so much for your money. Actually I found my favourite part, better than the gorgeous 5 patterns, is the introductory section about shawl design! I have learnt so much from this book and if you wanted to try designing your own shawl I would highly recommend it. If you want to have a go at making this yourself, check out my shop for my yarn or dye your own! You could still get something gorgeous and Autumnal before Autumn even starts!

Ells

xx