Spring Has Sprung In Abundance

The slowness of winter is definitely over.  What hath Spring wrought?  An almost over abundance of work.  And that is just fine.

Here is the two day bolero with flutter sleeves in all of its glory.  Hopefully the owner is OK with me trying it on.  Based on how it floats loosely on me, it should be exactly her size.

It was a fast knit due to the gauge.  The concept of a top down open front bolero or cardigan is nothing new.  I'm so please with this result that I might actually write down the increase pattern with a slight change to how the flutter sleeves are finished off.  Whew!  Glad this got done even if it was on rush time.

In the midst of making the commission bolero, I needed the help of a body.  That meant interrupting she who crochets.  As it happened, she was in the midst of  pattern testing  for Leo.  

Seems that this whole busy Spring work mode is spreading to every fiber artist I know.  Leo's new scarf pattern is a cute crochet.  Stay tuned for it to be available via his website.

And then came the most exciting part.  Writing class notes for a new Embroidery on Knit or Crochet class being offered at The Knitting Tree, LA.  I really enjoy teaching and it is a good feeling to get back to watching others learn something new.

It looks like the Embroidery class will be followed by teaching my NightStar shawl.  If you are interested in either the embroidery or NightStar, get in touch with the good folks at TKTLA.

Being busy is like work.  But it is all still yarn, and I do love a good yarn.

NightStar Shawl

Nightstar Shawl

Free Pattern Now Available on our site!

    

 NIGHTSTAR is a triangle shaped shawl.  It begins with a garter tab that extends to become the garter edge.  A stockinette field grows from a center spine of repeating star stitches.  The lace pattern is totally reversible and worked on a multiple of two stitches.  If you desire a larger project, just work more rows of this section.  Increasing within a row of star stitches creates the bottom wave.  Beading adds sparkle and helps the shawl to hang well.  The bottom edge is reverse stockinette and rolls to the wrong side.

 Much thanks and gratitude to Merilyn and the gang at FoxyKnits for introducing this pattern at 2014 Stitches West.  If you are looking for the perfect yarn, go no further than Koigu.  One skein makes the stockinette section and one skein for the lace and beaded edge.  I'm partial to the subtle solid colors (KPM), but check out all of the Koigu options at FoxyKnits.  

 

Version II

Do you remember my Daystar?  Well, there was a glitch in the pattern, so it is undergoing an edit and awaiting final input from the testers.  I will post a Beta pattern soon.  OR maybe the first to appear will be the pattern for Nightstar - aka Version II.

This one only has three sections and one row of beads.  That should make Nightstar more approachable. 

Section 1 is a stockinette panel with a starry center spine.
Section 2 is a lace pattern that is worked exactly the same on both the right and the wrong side.
Section 3 increases for a soft wave that is beaded. 

This version of the shawl ends with a "fake" i-cord edge.

What's that you say?  You don't know how to execute "fake" i-cord.  Actually, you do know how.  You just call it something else.