Hello everyone, I hope you are all keeping well and managing to avoid some of the germs that seem to be flying around at the moment.
We cast on for the Natures Shades KAL a few weeks ago and already a few finished objects have stared to appear in the FO thread. Everyone is making great progress and there are some truly amazing projects being worked on.
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| My yarn choice |
In the end after much dithering I decide to knit Swale by Karie Westermann. It is one of the beautiful designs in the Drift Collection. The pattern is written for two different shades but I am going to use four (for the KAL a minimum of three undyed shades must be used). The shawl is constructed along the lines of a hap. I am knitting the inner triangle one colour, the stripes two different colours and the edge the fourth colour.
I can't be the only one who buys odd skeins of natural undyed yarns and then wonders what to do with them when they get home (apart from admiring and squishing them). This KAL was the ideal opportunity for me to have a bit of a stash rummage and select some of those sheepy shades. This is what I decided on.....
The cream is from Woolly Chic, the pale grey and the really dark shade is North Ronaldsay and the mid grey is Exmoor Zwartbles from John Arbon.
My next decision was what order to knit them..... after much playing around and quite a bit of discussion with Mr BritYarn I decided to use the cream for the inner triangle, the two greys for the stripes and the dark for the edging.
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| Planning |
Progress so far...... I am loving knitting with the Woolly Chic yarn and I am making steady progress on the inner triangle. My next two shades are balled up ready and waiting. My Swale has not had that much attention since casting on as I am close to finishing several other projects including Mahy. However, my Swale did come with me to York on Sunday as it is an idea travel project and perfect knitting while chatting with friends.
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| My Swale so far |
It is not too late to join myself, Louise of KnitBritish and other fans of natures shades - all the details can be found here if you fancy joining in.
We are having a Natures Shades KAL virtual knit night on Friday 12th February at 7pm. As usual this will take place on Twitter, Instagram and in the KAL chat thread. Get your drink of choice and nibbles at the ready.
Happy New Year Everyone!
I just want to say a big thank you for all your seasonal best wishes and your congratulations when BritYarn made the front page of Ravelry! The success of BritYarn is all down to you and your support. Again a massive thank you.
So, a new year and a new KAL. If you listen and follow Louise of KnitBritish you will have already heard the details but just in case you have not here they are.
The Nature's Shades Along KAL is all about exploring the amazing variety of natural undyed shades available from our sheep, alpaca and other animals.
The rules of the KAL are as follows.....
- We all start our projects on Thursday 14th January 2016.
- You can knit / weave / crochet any pattern but it must be something you can wear.
- The yarn must be undyed / natural.
- You must use a minimum of three shades. Any fibre can be used.
- The yarn must be grown in Britain OR be grown local to you if you do not live in Great Britain. Of course you are still welcome to use British grown yarn if you wish.
- You must be a member of both the BritYarn and Knit British Ravelry Groups.
- To be eligiable for a prize your project must meet the above criteria and your finished photo posted in the BritYarn Nature's Shades Along FO thread before midnight GMT 19th March 2016
You can tag your projects Naturesshades in Ravelry and #naturesshades on Instagram and Twitter.
You may have noticed the cast off date? If you are going to Edinburgh Yarn Festival we will be holding a KAL meet up where we can all wear our FO's. We will let you know the details nearer the time.
Have you any thoughts on your project or perhaps what yarns you might use? I am still really undecided although Spring Festival, which was a shawl included in the 2015 EYF brochure, is high on my list. Perhaps done in a DK rather than 4ply........
If you need any yarn help all of BritYarn's undyed shades are grouped together here.
Look forward to seeing your plans over in the chat thread.
