Fancy a Mystery KAL?

No idea what a Mystery KAL is?

A Mystery KAL is a knitalong where the pattern is delivered in weekly 'clues' and you don't know what the complete shawl is going to look like until you get the last clue. This is my first Mystery KAL and I've been planning it for months and I'm very excited about it. Although I did design a Mystery Blanket for Let's Knit a couple of years ago.

 We'll start on 15 October and there will be 5 weekly clues. The KAL will be run on Ravelry and there will be help and support in my Ravelry group. Each week you'll receive an e-mail with the link to download the next part of the pattern.

A few details:
The shawl is knitted in Twinkle Lace but you can use any laceweight yarn which has 800m/880yds per 100gr. You'll need 3.5mm needles. I recommend circular needles as you'll have quite a lot of stitches by the end. The edging has beads added which is optional. The beads are added using the crochet hook method. but if you don't want to add beads that's fine too.

So what do you do if you fancy joining in? Go to the pattern page on Ravelry to sign up. it's only £1.50 until 25 October. After that the sign up closes. After the KAL has finished the pattern will be available for general sale at £3. Participants can download the full pattern for free after the KAL has finished.

The KAL will be run from my Ravelry group where you can get help and support. You don't have to join the Ravelry group though.

In about a wee's time I'll publish a stitch pattern that you can use to check your tension and to see if you're happy with the fabric you get with your chose yarn and needles.

Will you join me on this exciting adventure?

20 Years!

On a bright, warm, sunny day in Norway 20 years ago:

The weather was much like today in England actually as we've had a warm, sunny, beautiful summery day.
I can't believe it's 20 years ago since we got married. It has gone very quickly. Looking at that picture we looked so young and I was only 22 years old. My Mum kept telling me I was too young to get married when we went shopping for a wedding dress. My parents were 22 when they got married. I didn't think I was too young then but looking back, I think my Mum was right. I don't regret getting married though but I think I was too young and if either of my girls get married at 22 I'll be telling them the same thing (but I'd obviously support them).

Simon and I met and married within a year which is very quick compared to most people these days. But we  obviously made the right decision. Our day out in Somerset for The Tour of Britain two weeks ago was our 'official' celebration. So tonight we're just having a nice family meal. I've cooked a roast beef dinner. I'm not supposed to eat red meat at the moment but I'm ignoring that tonight and just praying my gall bladder doesn't make me pay for it in the middle of the night.

To celebrate our anniversary I've got a special offer on this week. Use code: wedding20 to get 20% off yarn and patterns until Friday. Why not use the discount to sign up for the Amazing Luxury Knits? Or treat your self to some nice yarn to kick off your autumn knitting.

I'd better go and check on the roast.

Help us celebrate!

On Wednesday, Simon and I celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary! I can't believe it's been 20 years, it doesn't seem that long. To celebrate I'm offering 20% off yarn and patterns until Friday 30th September. Use discount code: wedding20 to get your discount.

Why not use the discount to join one of our clubs or to sign up for the  'Amazing Luxury Knits'?

It's been a relaxing weekend. I had a very busy week last week with 2 half days and 1 full day of workshops. I taught beginner knitting, perfect finishing and toe up socks last wee at 3 different venues. This weekend my focus was on recovering after the workshops. I took it easy and did lots of knitting and watched Formula 1 Grand Prix and the World Championship in cycling. Congratulations to Mark Cavendish for becoming World Road Race Champion and for Jenson Button for coming second in the grand prix.

I got lots of knitting done. It's all secret so I'm only sharing little snippets. I knitted a swatch for a new lace design which I LOVE. It's gorgeous.

I'm working on an aran sweater in a gorgeous Rico merino yarn.

and a delicate Manos Lace design

Going from 5mm to 3.5mm needles can be challenging but I enjoy the difference these two projects present.

I've also spent time sorting out my studio. I've finally ordered new shelving, had a severe tidy up, moved my knitting machine and desk. Once my new shelving arrives and is fitted the room will be so much more organised and better to work from. Hopefully I'll have it all sorted by the end of the week.

We have a winner!

I wrote this blog post last night but was too tired to edit and add photos:
I know I promised to draw the winner of the 'Shaping Shawl' e-book last Friday. But we decided to take the day off and be Tour of Britain groupies for the day. Tour of Britain is a road cycling race. Like Tour de France but much smaller and in Britain.

The winner is MaryMaryQuiteContrary. Congratulations. can you please e-mail me on ahallisATyahooDOTcoDOTuk (replace AT and DOT with @ and .) with your address and your choice of a skein of yarn from my website and your Ravelry name so Anna can send you your e-book.

On Thursday and Friday the Tour of Britain came to Devon and Somerset (which is one and two counties away from us - so fairly close). We couldn't go on Thursday although watching them on Dartmoor would have been fantastic. But I was teaching a workshop so we took Friday off instead. First we drove to Somerset to watch the start. Before the start all the riders have to go up on the stage to sign in.

A few of the British riders, including British no 1 and Tour de France Green Jersey winner, Mark Cavendish, were interviewed (I've no idea if the cyclist below is actually Mark Cavendish as I can't remember who I took photo of and it's difficult to recognise cyclists with their helmets on. All the photos were taking on my mobile and have been cropped so sorry for the bad quality.

Simon and i followed watched nearly every stage of the Tour de France this year so we were quite excited to see some of the riders close up. Norwegian no 1 cyclist and World Champion and Tour de France stage winner, Thor Hushovd was there too.

Here's the start:

Once the race started we got back in the car and drove on to Cheddar Gorge. For those who are not British, Cheddar Gorge is a big tourist attraction. We drove through the gorge and it was already lots of people ready at the road side and lots and lots of cyclists cycling up and down the hill. We drove to the top of the hill and set up camp about 100m before the 'King of the mountains' banner.

As a Norwegian, using 'King of the mountains' in a British race is kind of a laugh. Compared to the mountains we have in Norway, there are only hills here. And Cheddar Gorge is not a mountain. Although I wouldn't have wanted to cycle up it.

We thought waiting at the top of the mountain, we'd be able to see the riders more clearly as they would be slower at the top of the mountain. Well, they were unbelievably fast.  They whizzed past and I barely managed to get a pic. I didn't even manage to see who was in the front. When the pelaton went past the 'air drag' was the same as when a lorry drives past you on a fast road.

The most amazing thing was the number of motorbikes that go ahead of the cyclists.

There must have been more motorbikes (police & 'race officials') than push bikes. After the cyclists there are a huge number of cars.

The Tour of Britain is a fairly small race compared to Tour de France so I can't even imagine how many motorbikes and cars are involved in that race.

After the cyclists had passed through Cheddar Gorge we jumped back in the car and raced down to Wells. It was fairly close and we had to get there before the cyclists. The race went through Wells once, then out again and did a loop and then back into Wells for the finish. Wells is a beautiful city and the smallest city in Britain. After finally finding a parking space we headed down to the main street as quickly as we could and saw the last few support cars go past. Which meant we had missed the race. We walked on to find the finish line and found a spot in the crowds a few hundred meters before the finish.

 Watching the sprint to the finish was almost a waste of time as the riders were so fast I couldn't even see who it was.

After the race had finished we walked through the cathedral and popped into a couple of shops. On the way home, we stopped in Exeter for a meal.

it was a great day out and we really enjoyed it. When the girls have left home, we're planning to take a few weeks off and follow the Tour de France so this gave us a taste of what to expect.

I did knit a bit during the day. We spent about 40 mins waiting in the sunshine at the top of Cheddar Gorge and I was working on the mystery shawl.

I cast off the mystery shawl this morning and it's waiting to be blocked. That's going to have to wait till tomorrow as I'm too tired. I'm planning to run the mystery shawl in October. We'll probably start mid-October. More details soon. I can't wait to see the shawl blocked.

This week I'll mainly be swatching for new designs but I need to start a couple of deadline projects too. One is an aran sweater and one is a delicate lace shawl. it'll be fun knitting these side by side. Switching from 3.5mm to 5.5mm needles.

Have you signed up for 'Amazing Luxury Knits' yet? If not, go and do it now. You know you want to. I'll be casting on for the November design this week too.

Amazing Luxury Knits

I'm pleased to announce my next e-book project. This time it'll be a 6 months subscription. Each month you will receive a pattern for an accessory using 1-2 skeins of a luxury yarn. The yarns in the picture above may or may not be used in the designs for this project. I've not decided the full line up of yarns yet but the yarns above are a selection of some of the luxury yarns in my stash and they are all possible candidates for this project.

The first pattern will be the Cross Stitch Shawl & Scarf which I designed a couple of years ago but never published. I used Alchemy Silken Straw which is a very interesting silk yarn which looks and feels like straw.  It does soften a lot as you knit it and wear it. As this is an expensive yarn I wanted a one skein project and designed the scarf above.

 I then wondered what it would look like as a triangular shawlette. I loved it but it was a little bit small so one of my lovely knitters, Anita, knitted it up in one of my own hand-dyed yarns.Thank you, Anita. On this version I added a different edging.

This pattern will be released on 1st October.

This is how the subscription will work:
Sign up and you will receive a new pattern for an accessory (which could be shawls, scarves, gloves/mittens/fingerless mitts, cowls or other accessories) which is designed for a gorgeous luxury yarn. I will only use 1-2 skeins for each project and I will suggest cheaper alternatives. The designs will use yarns ranging from laceweight to aranweight yarns and a variety of stitch patterns including dropped stitches, lace, cables and possibly slip stitch colourwork (which is very easy for those who aren't comfortable with stranded colourwork).

At the end of the 6 month period the patterns will be compiled as an e-book which you can download. All the patterns will be available individually too but obviously you will save money if you subscribe. Full price for all 6 patterns will be £18 but the e-book subscription is available for £12.If you sign up before end of October you will be able to take advantage of the special introductory price of £10. Click here to subscribe.

Approx two weeks before each pattern is due to be released I will put up a pattern page on Ravelry so you can see pics of the project and yarn suggestions.

'Shaping Shawls' by Anna Dalvi

A few weeks ago I was asked to take part in Anna Dalvi's blog tour for her brand new book, Shaping Shawls. I've really enjoyed looking through this book for the last couple of weeks. The designs are amazing and the colours are truly stunning.

Anna is a very talented lace designer and has run some very popular mystery kals in the past. Like me, she's from Scandinavia, Sweden to be exact, but lives in Canada.

Let's get straight to the book and then afterwards I'll ask Anna some questions. Shaping Shawls is a collection of 10 stunning shawls but there is so much more to this book. Anna takes us on a detailed journey through different shawl shapes starting with a basic rectangular shape, moving on to several different ways to shape a triangular shawl and square shawls. Anna explains in detail how all these different shapes are achieved. This is a book I really wished I'd had when I first started designing shawls. I remember spending weeks, it may even have been months, working out how the basic tow down triangular shawls with the centre spine was achieved. I kept seeing all these beautiful shawls consisting of 2 triangles next to each other and could't work out how to do it. Obviously I got it eventually but this book would have saved me a lot of time.

Anna takes a mathematical approach to achieving various shapes. Now, I'm not very keen on maths. I hated maths at school and it was my weakest subject. My daughter is doing A-level maths and it's WAY beyond me. The mere mention of maths makes me panic. So it's kind of ironic that I do what I do as knit wear design is basically maths. Anna makes the maths easy as she explains how to use maths to check that your pattern is correct and to achieve the shape you want.

If you're a budding designer or a knitter who'd like to understand a bit more about how to achieve various shapes or you want to try to design a shawl for yourself or a friend, then this book is for you. If you're a knitter who likes to knit beautiful shawls then you'll love this book too.

Like me, Anna is a fan of charts and this book contains clear charts and schematics.

Shaping Shawls is available as an e-book and print book and is published by Cooperative Press.

All the photos in this post are copyright Kristin Caldwell Photography.

Let's ask Anna some questions.


1. Where do you get your inspiration for your designs from?

Design inspiration comes from everywhere, and it's hard to pinpoint the source for a particular design.  I do tend to draw a lot of my inspiration from nature and my natural surroundings, but then again, I've also designed patterns based on fairy tales, mythology, music, and even gates and fences.  

3. Why did you want to do a book offering a instructional aspect and not just a pattern collection?

I really wanted to share my fascination with construction and the logic inherent in shawl design.  In my experience, knitters are a creative bunch and love to experiment and knit something unique.  This can take many different forms, from the simple changes like picking colours and colour combinations that appeal to us, to more complex changing, like substituting a certain lace pattern for another.  I wanted to give people a base on which to build upon, if they would like to design their own shawls.  Or more mathematical tools for designers to build new shapes and shawls.  I wanted to include a number of patterns as examples of the various shapes.  But I also hope that the instructional part of the book will be used to create some new designs.

4. For how long have you been a designer? Where have your designs been published?

I've been designing as long as I've been knitting, I think.  But I didn't actually start writing up any of the patterns until 2007 when I decided to submit the Burridge Lake Aran Afghan pattern to (now defunct) MagKnits, and was accepted almost immediately.  Shortly after that, I launched the Mystic Waters knitalong, and the rest is history.

Despite the fact that I started with a publication for an online magazine, I have mainly focused on self-publishing my designs.  I like the flexibility of self-publishing, and I love the mystery KAL format, and the direct interaction with the knitters.  I have a couple of designs that have been published by others, like the Sanguine Gryphon, and the Knitting Icelander, and I have a few more in the pipeline, but the book and my self-published patterns take most of my time.

5. Have you got any plans for more books? Any other exciting plans you'd like to share?

Yes.  There is a second book in the works with Cooperative Press, and it should be out sometime during the summer of 2012.  I also have a couple of designs that are part of the Fresh Design series.

We've got a give away too. Leave a comment on this blog post by Friday midday (UK time) and you have the chance to win a copy of the Shaping Shawls e-book and a skein of yarn of your choice from my website. Tell me which design in this book you like the best and why. You can see all the shawls on Ravelry. Please also leave your Ravelry ID or e-mail if you're not a Ravelry member so Anna can send you your e-book. I'll contact the winner re the yarn. I'll announce the winner on Friday evening.

You can find Anna at Knit & Knag or on Ravelry.  Take a look at Anna's other designs too. They're gorgeous.

Thank you Anna, for answering my questions and choosing me to be part of your blog tour. See all the tops on the tour here and the next stop is Sweet Georgia.

A Great Blog

You may have noticed a different look to the blog lately. I've just added another feature: a list of the workshops and shows I'm attending this autumn. The two shows are Fibre Flurry in Birmingham in October and The Big Knit Show in Exeter in November. I'll be teaching and having a stall at both shows. See individual show's websites for details of how to book.

I'm not going to go through the whole list but I would like to highlight two workshops starting next week. On Tuesday I'm starting a 4 week course at The Cornwall Yarn Shop in Launceston, Cornwall. This course will be run over 4 Tuesday mornings. It'll be perfect if you've never knitted before or if you are returning to knitting. The first week we'll cover basics of how to cast on and off, knit and purl stitches and different combinations of knit and purl. You'll be able to work at your own pace. The second week we'll start knitting a mini sweater which will teach you how to follow a pattern and all the different elements involved in knitting a garment such as shaping, short row shoulders, three needle cast off. On the final week we'll finish the sweater and you'll learn how to block/press your sweater and sew it up before we add a neck band. So if you've knitted for a while but never tackled a garment you may enjoy this course too.

At the end of the course you should be confident enough to knit a simple sweater and to follow basic patterns. The last group who did this course back in January had a great time. Contact the shop to book.

On Thursday next week and the following week I'm teaching a class on 'Perfect Finishing For Knitters' for the Liskeard Knit & Knatter group. This workshop is open to anyone and as it's sponsored by the knitting group it's very cheap. You can see all the details here of what we'll cover over the 2 weeks. You need to e-mail or call me to book and I will then give you details of what you need to bring to the 2 classes. The classes will be held at Stuart House, Liskeard (next to the library) from 10am to 1pm on Thursdays 15 & 22 September.

I've been thinking a lot lately of what i can do to improve this blog. When I started blogging I was new to the online community. I'd just recently discovered online knitting forums and knitting blogs and I very quickly decided I want to blog. My main aim to start with was to share my knitting and my family life with the world. Since I've shared my personal knitting, my knitting and crochet design, my yarns and & my family life.

I wasn't a designer or indie dyer when I started blogging. And if you've been reading my blog since the beginning (please tell me if you have ,I'd love to know) you'll have seen my progression from a novice designer to an internationally published designer (I've got designs due to be published by Interweave and German magazine, Verena). I'm very proud of my success. I'd never imagined when I started this blog that I would end up being a published knit wear designer.

Since I'm now a knitting professional I'd like to give my blog a more professional look, which is why I changed the design. I've been looking at the blogs I enjoy reading lately and analysing what I like about them. I don't like blogs that are every only used to promote the blogger's products or business. Also, I don't like blogs that rarely show photos. What I do like is blogs that have a combination of the blogger's personal life, current knitting and work (designs or yarn) and that have lots of photos.

That's what I aim to achieve with this blog. I need to improve my photography and hopefully that may happen when my new camera arrives. I will order it tonight.

Now, it's over to you. What do you like about a blog? What do you think makes a great blog? I'm not looking for anyone to praise me and tell me how wonderful my blog is etc. Although if you do like it, I'd love to hear it. But I'd like your views on what you think makes an interesting blog?

I've just said i like blogs with lots of pictures so I can't leave this post without a picture. So I'll share these beautiful yarns with you. They're luxury yarns from my stash and I'll tell you more about them next time. No, it's not new additions to my stash but it's got something to do with a special project.

Tulips

My stunning 'Tulips' Shawlette has just been published by The Knitter. Issue 36 is in the shops now. The name for this shawlette didn't dawn on me until it was hanging fully blocked on my dress form. I then realised that the stitch pattern I chose for the centre back section looked just like tulips.

I must admit I was mesmerised by this shawlette when it was hanging on my dress form. I kept looking at it from across the room. The beauty of it, the drape, the AMAZING colour. I couldn't take my eyes of it. I can't wait till the sample comes back from the magazine and I can wear it. It'll make a perfect scarf for this winter.

Artisan Yarns provided the gorgeous Teifi Silk Sock which is the same blend merino/silk blend as my Supreme Sock. I love the high silk content of this yarn which gives the shawlette amazing drape and shine. The merino adds some bounce to the shawlette. I loved the 'Rosy Posy' colourway. It's a blend of reds, fuschias and a tiny bit of orange. The different colours are very subtly blended into this yarn.

The centre panel consists of lace tulips and is flanked by lace panels of flower buds either side.

The construction of this shawlette is a cross between a half hexagon and triangular shawlette. It is worked from the top down and the shaping starts off like a half hexagon shawlette creating three triangles across the width of the shawlette. The increases for the centre section then stops but the increases for the side sections continue as a standard top down triangle. This creates a wonderful shape which sits very nice across the shoulders.

The shaping for this shawlette is the same as for my 'Frosty Diamonds Shawlette' from The Easy Lace Collection. The schematic below is for The Frosty Diamonds but apart from the measurements the other elements of the schematics (ie the cast on, cast off and shaping lines) are the same:

I'm creating a series of tutorials for my website and the first one on Top Down Triangular Shawls  up now.
ETA: I've just added the tutorial for Top Down Half Hexagon Shawls and Modified Half Hexagon/Triangular Shawls .

A new obsession

As a designer I spend hours every day knitting and good tools are very important. My most important tool, in addition to good yarn, is good needles. Every knitter has their preferences when it comes to needles but I like smooth needles with long, tapered, sharp point. For the last 5-ish years I've been faithfully knitting with my KnitPro interchangeables. I love the interchangeable set, which for those who are wondering what I'm talking about, is a set of circular cables and needle tips  that you can mix and match. If you buy the interchangeable set you get a set of cables and tips and i've added to my set over the years and now have a very comprehensive set of various length cables and tips in every size. In fact I have several sets in most sizes. Another bonus with the Knit Pro needles is that they're made of pretty wood which is still very smooth, much smoother than most bamboo needles and they have fairly sharp points.

Recently though I tried a needle which would break my Knit Pro addiction:

It's the ChiaoGoo Red Lace circular needles. These are stainless stell needles with cables that don't kink. I was first introduced to these needles via some tweets just before Knit Nation. I bought a couple of sets to try out at the Loop booth at KN and immediately liked them. I've since added a few more sets from two of the UK stockists, Loop and Purlescense.

So why do I love these needles? Well, apart from the no-kink cables which you can wind up like I do in the photo above and then unwind to knit with and the cables are perfectly straight, they're made of smooth stainless steel with very smooth joints and long, sharp points, which is perfect for all kinds of knitting but especially lace and cable knitting.

They don't look as fancy as my Knit Pro needles which will still be my 'go-to' needles for my workshops and I still love their interchangeables set but my favourite needles for my own knitting is the ChiaoGoo Red Lace. The only thing I would improve is I wish they came in an interchangeable set. The price isn't bad either.

The only thing that could make them better? Purple cables instead of red!

New Look

Notice anything different? After a new look website lately, I decided it was time to update the blog a little bit. I've only changed the template and moved some of the side bar stuff around. That's enough for now.  Think it's the start of the new school year that inspired me. September is a time for new beginnings and a fresh start.

I have been considering moving the blog to Wordpress but I know Blogger and I think it's improving and learning a new 'system' is not appealing right now.

This last week was the last week of the school holidays. Vanessa enrolled for the Sixth Form College yesterday. She's starting her A levels next week and will be studying History, English Lit, Maths and Psychology. After A levels her plans are to study History and become a teacher.

Emily will be starting year 9 and will have to choose her GCSE options this year.

I'm still working away on the Mystery Shawl. I've got some deadlines coming up so I'm trying to get as far as possible on the mystery shawl before deadline knitting slows me down. I'm now on section 3. Pixie has started test knitting the shawl and has caught up with me after 2 days. She's an amazing, fast knitter. The pressure is on now to get through section 3 quickly. I thought I had enough of a head start but obviously not.

I'm also working on another exciting project starting in October. I won't reveal the full details yet but it includes a subscription, luxury yarns and lots of small projects. I've got the first project ready. And I've chosen the yarn for another couple of projects and been doing some prelimenary swatching. I'll reveal full details next week sometime.

Sarah, who modelled for me on The Easy Lace Collection, is moving away this weekend, so I managed to get her to find  some time for a mega modelling session on Thursday. I packed a bag full of designs and we headed down to Seaton which is a park and beach area near us. We only had 1 hr 30 mins as I had a hospital appointment (my gall bladder scan).

We started out in the park and did some shots of a secret design which turned out great. Eventually we headed down to the beach which was full of sunbathers.

The secret design we photographed was for a submission for Knitty's winter issue. Thursday was one of the few sunny, warm days we've had this summer. It's a challenge to try and make a British summer day look like winter.

We managed to find a quiet corner of the beach, we were lucky in that the tide was out, and photographed some of my old magazine garment designs which i'm planning to selfpublish this autumn, hopefully.

Some of the garment have had their copyright revert to me for a while and some have the magazine's copyright expiring this winter.

For The Easy Lace Collection, Simon did the photos but this time I was the photographer.

These photos are unedited by the way. I came home with nearly 400 photos on the camera. My first job was to edit the pics for the Knitty sub and next week I'll start working my way through the rest.

Sarah has just gotten engaged by the way and she was wearing her engagement ring, which was designed by her fiance, Josiah, using diamonds from a relative (can't remember the details but it was from family jewellery) and very pretty it is too:

I mentioned my gall bladder scan. I've not had the official result yet but the radiographer said my 'gall bladder looked like a quarry' which means there are a lot of stones so I guess that's not good news. But I'll know more next week. In the meantime I'm still on the 'gall stones fear of pain no fat diet' which is very good for me as I've lost a stone in weight.