Whitsand Bay - A New Design

One of the most difficult aspects of the design process for me is to name my designs. I tweeted about this last week and BristolBelle suggested I name my designs after place names in Cornwall.

At the time I was looking for a name for my new shawl which is a shallow crescent shape. I immediately thought of Whitsand Bay which is a long, shallow bay about 30mins drive from us.

The pics below (and the one at the top of the post) were taken a while ago on a sunny day, we've had a lot of those sunny days lately. You can see how beautiful this beach is. The only thing I don't like about this beach is the access from the road. 

 You have to walk down through a Army firing range and it's quite steep. Not so bad when walking down but coming back up from the beach it's a long, steep slog back to the car.

 It is still one of my favourite beaches though. The Whitsand Bay shawl will be the April design for the Lace Lovers Club, but the club yarn will be a different colourway. The design takes just one skein of sock yarn (400m).

 This shawl starts at the hem with a very long cast on. Some people may be put off by the long cast on but it's worth it and after the first few rows the stitch count halves for the lace section. When the lace section is finished the crescent shape is shaped by working short rows and the stitch count decreases rapidly.

 This is my first shawl using this construction method and I was amazed at how quickly it went once i got to the short row section. To make the short row section a bit more fun I added some eyelet rows but these are optional.

 This shape is great to wear. It sits nicely on the shoulders and can be worn like a shawl or bunched up like a scarf making it an all year accessory. I'm planning to take mine along on holiday later this week.

 Whitsand Bay is now available for pre-order at a 20% discount - pre-order it for only £2.40. The price will go up to £3 when the pattern is released later this week. Remember if you're a Lace Lovers Club member, don't pre-order the pattern as you'll receive it in your first parcel, which will go out on Wednesday.

 If you missed out on the current Lace Lovers Club, the next club season (from July to September) will open for sign ups later this month. The Whitsand Bay shawl finishes with an optional crochet chain cast off. I'm hoping to do a tutorial video for this some time this wee as i'm using this technique more and more on my shawls. I've got several shawls due to be published this year using this technique. You can however, do a regular cast off if you don't like the crochet chain.

Registrations have now opened for my next online Continental Knitting With Norwegian Purl class.

Wondering why you would want to take this class? Watch my video.  You can also read Sarah's review of the class.

This is what some of my previous online students have said:
Helen: The first time I've ever taken an online course and it was just amazing. Anni is a wonderful teacher. Can definitely recommend it.

Sue: The very clear, concise knitting video was so easy to follow; really enjoyed it. Now all I need is practice.

Valora: Yay, it has improved my knitting so much.

The new class starts on 14 April and registration closes on that same day. Spaces are limited so don't miss out. You don't need any special technical know how to follow this class. The class is delivered in daily instalments of video, written and photo tutorial lessons which are easy to follow.  You can also ask me questions in the class room or by e-mail.

You may be wondering why you should pay to take this class when there are so many free videos out there. My videos are well filmed and clear and easy to follow, something that can't be said for all videos out there. You can also ask me questions and interact with other students. There are a few extra tips included as well.

The aim of this course is to teach you how to knit continental style with Norwegian purl. With a bit of practice, I think knitting continental style with Norwegian purl is quicker than most English knitting styles. I'll also give you some tips on how to speed up your knitting. You'll also learn how to cast on using the continental long tail cast on which after a bit of practice is a good allround, quick cast on. I can cast on 300 stitches in 6 min 50 sec.

Sign up here. You'll keep access to the course material after the course has finished and there is no time limit on your course.