Another shawl in the pile

I think I mentioned back in May that I would be sharing this completed shawl soon... It was finished in the spring, and has been a favourite ever since

 I love this pattern, and if it wasn't for my rather lengthy Ravelry queue, would be tempted to knit it again. The Arrosa shawl by Jennifer Weissman featured on the front cover of pompom quarterly issue 20 and was my reason for buying that issue (though a later flick through added a few more knits to the must make list). To make this shawl a fairly affordable knit - and because I like the softness of this yarn - I knit the main part in Drops baby merino already in the basket and then treated myself to a pop of dreamy colour for the cast off... the oh so delicious Cosmic Strings in Foxglove colourway

It is such a pretty yet still simple design. Beautiful.

Don't forget - I am holding a giveaway for a festive sock project bag here on my blog. All details on my last post... you have a week to enter by leaving a comment telling me what festive make you would house in the project bag. Go and comment, and good luck!

Seasonal project bags... and a giveaway

I realised a few weeks ago that my woolly makes are currently homed in seasonally inappropriate project bags, and so rummaged in the fabric piles to see what autumnal and wintery fabrics I had.  A gentle sewing project suited my mood and ability after what seems like months of coughs and colds.

The largest piece of fabric found was left over from a festive skirt made for one of P's friends, and so I started to experiment with various sizes. My first attempt is a fairly wide and short project bag, suitable for a pair of socks or such...

 followed by my favourite size so far - just the thing for a shawl.

The next one has an autumnal feel with the sweet thermos, and the size was depicted by the remnant of fabric found in the pile. A good size for socks or gloves

In the middle of bag making I signed up for knitvent 2017 by Helen Stewart of Curious Handmade - the theme this year is The Nutcracker, and I could not resist. In preparation for the release of the first pattern in the collection I made yet another project bag in some dreamy fabric which reminds me of the festive magic of The Nutcracker

The fabric is Be Merry, part of the Little Town collection, purchased from sew me sunshine  and is home to the first knitvent 2017 pattern released last Thursday, a dreamy cowl inspired by the Land of Sweets (yes, already cast on - shall show you my progress soon)

And so, giveaway time. As there is yet another project bag still to be shown I have decided that I possibly don't need quite this many, and certainly not two in the same print, so I shall giveaway the smaller of the Christmas tree print bags. This is the project bag shown at the front of the first photograph, and on the right below where you can see the width more clearly. It is fully lined with a red dotty fabric and would make a good size project bag for a pair of socks or mittens. Leave a comment below telling me what woolly project you would use this festive project bag for, and I shall chose a winner on Monday 28 November. Good luck!