Holiday Knitting - Pebble Beach Shawlette

With sewing taking an ever increasing place in my day as 'work' I have found I turn to knitting more and more as a form of relaxation. In fact I can't remember a time when I didn't have a knitting project on the needles. As soon as one is finished, I have to cast on the next, ready for those rare 5 minters every now and then that I get to indulge myself. Much like english paper piecing, knitting is a portable handy time passing activity, perfect for picking up when there is a dentist appointment, or a school club to wait for or watching the kids in the park.

My knitting has come on so much in the last year, I am really am in love with this new skill and I am excited to see what I can challenge myself to achieve next!

Recently I took part in my first knit along, much like a quilt along, and it was great fun! Everyone knit the wonderful Pebble Beach shawlette designed by Helen Stewart of Curious Handmade.

I used some lovely silk merino mix yarn from the Natural Dye Studio, aptly called Sea King. So soft and full of lovely hues of the sea, I want everything I knit to have silk in from now on!

I enjoyed taking the project with me everywhere, working on it a little at a time and it soon grew. I even took pebble beach to a pebble beach! I loved Helen's wonderful way of getting you to work through the pattern in percentages, very motivational to see them flying by.



 I added beads to my shawl, the first time I have tried this and I will be doing it again for sure. I love the very subtle sparkle they give and the weight to the shawl is a bonus, helping it stay in place when worn.




I used Soak for the first time for blocking and it was lovely, its on my birthday list now (oh I hope my husband reads this before next week!) The lace pattern came out wonderfully with the blocking and I know that I will knit another in the future, its just so pretty! Actually, I am pretty amazed that I have knit this, I feel incredibly clever and I am still a little shocked that I can create something so complex!



I need not fear the cool evenings that are drawing in, in fact I welcome them so I can wear my pretty shawl!



Of course, the next project is already on the needles! If you are interested the full details of my project can be found here on my ravelry page.