My Summer Shawl is finished and all about the South Bay Shawlette

Yesterday I finished my pretty Summer Shawl (from the book PUUR Haken)!

Well, the main part was finished thursday evening, including sewing in all the little ends. Friday I played about with adding a border in Purple. The pattern showed a border which went all the way around the 3 sides of the shawl, but I didn't like the idea.

This is what my finished Shawl looks like now:

Do the Butterfly!

Here you can see the pattern really well

Laid out flat (168 x 58 cm)

My own custom border in Purple

In fact, you could say for me this summer was the summer of shawls! 
Up to then, I had never tried to crochet a shawl before. (I made my own crochet Poncho in Primary school, but this is something else!)

Then I came across this pattern and I thought I would give it a go:
The South Bay Shawlette. (In fact, since then I started to collect their many free patterns!)

The South Bay Shawlette - this was my first attempt:

Made with Apilou Acrylic in Coral (164 x 80 cm)

Then came this:

The smallest - crocheted with a 1.5mm hook and turned into a necklace! (16 x 8 cm)

 And a Chunky version or two!

In Charcoal Chunky Merino Wool (92 x 40 cm)

In Deep Purple Chunky Merino Wool with added Border at the point and 2 little yoyos as ties (115 x 54cm)

Ok, I think I got it now, let's get serious! (The largest!)

With the most luxurious yarn: Silky Merino by Malabrigo in colour Indiecita (210 x 92 cm)

Each of the 8 balls of yarn was individually hand dyed and unique

 And one more with a different yarn - thick Cotton!

Yes, you saw this before! Here! (132 x 61 cm)

All together now!

Layering the shawls

All 7 close up

The blue one is my favourite, it feels so soft and I often shrug it on and off whenever I feel a bit cold. It lives on the back of my chair!

The two shorter chunky ones I will wear facing frontwards around my neck for the cold weather.

I also love the idea that you can use a pattern like this to make a necklace, because I love making necklaces from yarn. My upcycling idea is to use this as a piece of lace and sew it to a plain top or jumper, instantly adding new interest!

It has been fun making all of these! At the beginning of the year I decided that I wanted to learn and try out new things with my crafting, trying to push back some boundaries, and I believe that I am doing that. I also come to realize that a lot of being good at something is just practice, practice and more practice. Using one pattern and then trying it with different yarns, colours and ideas is so much fun! I know that I am not finished with this pattern, it has an easy going rhythm. If you have not tried it yet, download the free instructions and save it until you are in the mood for something new.

Do you have a favourite shawl pattern (preferably a free one), that you would like to share here?
(Please remember to link to the original site where it came from)

I hope I have given you all a bit of new inspiration here! It does not take long to make a shawl and soon you could be wearing it as the weather is getting cooler!

And hello to everyone who has recently started reading my blog, thanks for all your lovely comments, I enjoy reading them and hearing from you!

Wishing you all a relaxing weekend, and for my readers in the UK, enjoy your special Bank Holiday!

A Summer Shawl's Tale

Hello again!

Remember I started this Summer Shawl on Thursday night? Well this is what it looked like after I spent quite a long time working on it during Friday. It didn't seem to grow much!!! I was using a fine yarn (Ezra) and my trusted 3mm hook.

Summer Shawl Version 1

Then I decided to try out a different yarn. I dug through my stash and came across this Flamingo Pink (!) Extra Soft Merino Cotton by SMC Select (70% Pure New Wool, 30% Cotton), recommended hook size: 3-4 mm. Ok, let's try this with a size 5mm hook! By Friday evening I had hooked up a similar size triangle with 4 pattern repeats (instead of 7).

Version 1 (Blue) vs Version 2 (Pink)

This close up shows the difference in stitch size better

And here's one I made earlier!

Well, I know, that is not a shawl! It is a WIP! I had started knitting a neckwarmer in Spring in 3 colours, but I lost interest due to the fact I got annoyed with winding the different colour yarn after each round. Well, I thanked my earlier self because this meant I could recover the 3 balls of yarn all in one long string, as it had not been cut! So I got busy with my wool winder...

Progress on Saturday morning

Saturday was busy. On our travels out we found the perfect little table for our balcony. Just big enough to put down a drink and my crochet. Purple and perfect!!

Sitting outside on the balcony enjoying the evening sunshine!

I also bought some bamboo sticks for my plants. My little sunflowers needed a bit of support! And Jasper is relaxing in his favourite spot!

Jasper loves sunflowers, too!

 Here are the bigger sunflowers, the front one had gotten bent and damaged, so I'm hoping now it might recover. Still waiting for them to start flowering. Nothing like a bit of (tiny) yarnbombing!

The larger sunflower plants - spot the yarn!

 This is what 2 x 50g yarn looks like!

Sunday morning Shawl

Meanwhile I am nearly finished with the 3rd ball of yarn. The pattern calls for a total of 4x50 g Crochet Cotton (1 of them for the contrast coloured border - you might just see this in the photo above with the book in the background). I have a feeling I will be using more. I am pondering the following questions: How large should I make this? How about using the Orange Mango coloured yarn for the top and the Blackcurrant one for the border? I only got one more ball of Pink left. It measures now 138 (of 155cm) wide and 85 of 95 cm measured on each side.

I showed you this to illustrate that sometimes, even if you are trying to follow a pattern, things do not always turn out as expected. And I am pleased with myself that I had the nerve to undo my knitting! There is no time like the present! (However, I can assure you, I still got plenty of WIP left) I don't regret it, the yarn I gained is really lovely, soft and squishy to the touch. Everything is a learning curve!