Mystic Cuppa

On December 19, 2014, in KAL, lace, Mystic Cuppa, by Anna

When the world is all at odds
And the mind is all at sea
Then cease the useless tedium
And brew a cup of tea.
There is magic in its’ fragrance,
There is solace in its’ taste;
And the laden moments vanish
Somehow into space.
And the world becomes a lovely thing!
There’s beauty as you’ll see;
All because you briefly stopped
To brew a cup of tea.

Mystic Cuppa is a crescent shaped, two-colour lace shawl, published in mystery KAL format. You will need approx. 360 yards each of two contrasting colour sportweight yarn.

YARN REQUIREMENT
4 skeins Outlaw Yarn Bohemia Sport in two contrasting colours (2 skeins in earl + 2 skeins in carnivale) or similar yarn

KAL START DATE: Jan 15, 2015
Clues posted every Thursday for 5 consecutive weeks.

The PDF pattern can be purchased here for $6.00.

The KAL is available at this price until the first clue is posted on Jan 15. At that point, the price will increase to the regular pattern price.

 

Craftsy: My First Lace Shawl

On December 4, 2014, in Craftsy, lace, Waterspout Shawl, by Anna

My Craftsy class is now up and running.  So far, so good.  Hundreds of people have already joined me on this adventure, in which we’ll be knitting a gorgeous Waterspout Shawl.  The shawl can be knit in fingering weight or worsted weight, and we’ll look at the different fabrics created.

We’ll talk about yarn choices and needles.  We’ll work our way through a gauge swatch and try out all the lace stitches needed for the shawl.  Then we’ll cast-on for our fabulous shawl adventure.  You’ll have a choice of casting on with the traditional garter-tab cast-on, or you can use my fuss-free alternative. Either way, we’ll start with just a few stitches at the nape of the neck, and then work down and out towards the edging.

Next, we’ll work through your lace chart, as I give you manageable instruction to easily knit increases, decreases, yarn-overs and more. We’ll talk about how and where to join the next skein, if you run out of yarn from the current skein.  And before you know it, we’re ready to bind off.  We’ll look at a stretchy lace bind-off, and how to finish the shawl by sewing in the ends.

Finally we’re ready for the magic of blocking.  This is where you transform your knitting into a true masterpiece.  We’ll look at wet-blocking, and how to alter the look of the edging, at any point in time, simply by re-blocking your shawl.

Please join me on Craftsy, where I’ll be available to answer your questions as they come up.  You can watch the class at any time, pause, rewind or even skip ahead.  You can watch the class as many times as you’d like.   I look forward to seeing you there.