Showing posts with label Lace. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lace. Show all posts

Sunburst Shawl


Every season there is one pattern that breaks out from the pack. The thing that everyone wants to knit. And this season, the piece to knit is the Sunburst Shawl by Rachel Henry in Soft Linen (available in the booklet Meadow Melody or on Ravelry.)


The shawl is a two color lace sampler triangle worked from the bottom edge to the center point (so your rows get shorter and shorter as you go – which also means faster and faster!)  It has a soft delicate vintage vibe that is so popular right now.


Soft Linen is a linen, wool and alpaca blend. The wool in the Soft Linen gives it a nice drape, while the alpaca gives it a touch of warmth and a halo that makes the shawl a great three season piece. Throw it on over your outfit on chilly spring mornings or to keep warm in the chilly A/C world that we live in during the summer months. And it's still appropriate for those fall days when you don’t quite want to admit that winter is coming.

Rachel knit the sample in Winter Pear and Titian Blue. But what if you want to try something a little different? We put our creative minds together to come up with a few other color combos that you might want to try. Using the magic of Photoshop, and a talented Graphic Designer, we are able to preview them for you.

The first color combo is Linen and Celadon. It still has a similar antique feeling, but is a little less scary for those who aren't as comfortable mixing colors.


We also paired the Linen with Titian Blue, which is a beautiful colorway.

The Botticelli Pink with the Linen is a soft color combo with a hint of girlishness. 


The blue/green color combo of the Deep Cornflower Blue and New Fern is reminiscent of the original shawl, but with a little kick.


Looking for some other combos? Maybe something a little bolder, or darker? Here are a few suggestions:


 From Left to right: Blue Grotto and Inca Gold, Blue Grotto and Titian Blue, Blue Grotto and Kentucky Blue, Kentucky Blue and Tangerine, New Fern and Deep Twilight, Kentucky Blue and Turk Red, Turk Red and Deep Twilight, Loden Green and Smokey Rose, and Kentucky Blue and Loden Green.

The shawl would also be a classic wardrobe stable knit in one color, shown here in Titian Blue:


I know you can’t wait to cast on! You can buy the pattern on Ravelry here or at your LYS. View all the colors of Soft Linen here.

An Extraordinary Knitter...


As soon as Cheryl pointed this project out to me, I knew we had to feature it here on the blog. Silky Alpaca Lace is the perfect yarn for heirloom pieces, and what day is more special than your wedding day? Amanda Robertson, the extraordinary knitter behind this piece, was kind enough to answer some questions for us.

Are you a big lace knitter?
I don't really consider myself a big lace knitter, but I'm always up for new knitting challenges. Before my shawl I had only knitted one other lace project, which was a stole for a friend to wear at her wedding.


What made you decide to undertake such a complicated piece? What was your inspiration?
I knew I wanted to have a very handmade wedding, so a knitted shawl seemed like an obvious piece of that to me. I honestly have no idea why I picked such a complex pattern - I don't think I knew what I was getting myself into! I looked at tons of patterns and projects and fell in love with circular shawls worn as veils. Spanish Peacock really stood out to me and I love that it was a project Meg Swansen created for her daughter's wedding. I didn't wear mine as a veil in the end, but that's where my inspiration came from.


How did you find the experience? The yarn?
It was frustrating to knit at times, but really rewarding. It took me ages to get the cast-on right, I made some major mistakes, and I struggled with parts of the pattern, but it was so fun to see the pattern emerge and the shawl grow. I loved the yarn! It's so soft and in six balls I didn't have a single knot or flaw. I initially fell in love with the color (I had a certain shade of orange in mind), and it also happened to be fabulous yarn!


How many hours a day did you devote to it? Were you a "monogamous" knitter?
At times I was working on it 3 or 4 hours a day. At another point it was in a zip-lock for 5 months straight when it was summer, we were moving, and I couldn't stand to look at it anymore. I took a couple of breaks to knit other small projects, and plenty of breaks to sew and craft for the wedding. I guess I was a serial monogamist!


Do you have any advice for someone who would want to attempt something like this themselves?
I say go for it! Do your research and read the project notes from the many wise people on Ravelry - I learned so much from the notes of folks who knit Spanish Peacock before me. Also be sure to give yourself plenty of time to take breaks and fix mistakes!

What's on your needles now?
I just started on Evie, a cardigan by Kim Hargreaves from Thrown Together. I'm such a slow knitter, so I think it will take me awhile!