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Lazy Stripes Shawl by Edda lilja

Edda and her friend Arndis are working together on a really interesting (and I think quite challenging!) project this year. Every month a picture will be posted to their website and they will both use this as inspiration to design something (for knitting, crochet or even a combination of both). They will work on their designs throughout the month, posting updates on their progress. At the end of the month they will share their finished designs and the patterns will be available on Ravelry.

I’ve had the pleasure of working with Edda on her first pattern for this project, the Lazy Stripes Shawl. Designed for fingering weight yarn, the shawl is worked end to end and the pretty lace border is added afterwards.

I’m looking forward to seeing what they come up with this month!

You can find Edda’s pattern on Ravelry.

For more information about Edda and Arndis’s project, visit their website http://theharbourproject.com

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Wimbledon Top by Sarah McFall

Sarah has just released her Wimbledon Top pattern. With minimal shaping and a simple stitch pattern, as long as you have some basic crochet skills, you should have no problems making this cute, t-shirt style top! Made using DK weight yarn, it should work up nice and quickly πŸ™‚

The pattern has been tech edited (by me!) and Sarah has also had it test crocheted. You can purchase the pattern on Ravelry, Love Crochet or Etsy.

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Hello 2017…

January 5th already – eeek! Everyone seems to be busy setting goals and making plans for the year. I’m working on a few plans of my own – the first involves crochet and making videos. You’ll have to wait a bit longer to find out more but here’s a cute photo in the meantime πŸ˜‰


Andrew & I had fun with some yarn dyeing before Christmas and we have plans to do lots more this year. I still can’t decide what to make with this skein – it will probably be socks.

Last year I successfully completed both of Joeli’s tech editing courses and started taking on a few clients. I’m looking forward to doing a lot more tech editing this year. I have plenty of availability at the moment (I edit both knitting and crochet patterns). You can find out more on my tech editing page.

One of my goals for this year is to do more designing. I have recently submitted a design to a magazine (waiting to hear the outcome) and I’ve got a couple of things which should be ready to publish in the next month or so. I’ve got lots of ideas – I just wish I could knit faster (or in my sleep maybe?!) I’m quicker at crochet so maybe I should work on my crochet designs first!

I’m also hoping to run a few workshops later in the year. I think I’ve found a suitable venue πŸ™‚ I just need to decide on some dates and which workshop(s) to run. Knitting toe-up socks is likely to be high on the list.

If you want to stay in touch, please sign up for my newsletter. I promise not to send you an email every day – or even every week! I might send you something once a month or so – when I have news to share πŸ™‚

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Quintessential: Farmers’ Market by Jen Day

I seem to mostly be tech editing shawls! This is another recent one I have worked on, designed by Jen of Pharmhouse Wool Preserves.

Jen designed this shawl to make use of The Plucky Knitter’s “Fall Quintessential Plucky Palette“.Β  A straightforward knit with interest coming from the use of the beautiful colours (there are 12 colours in the Fall kit!).Β It’s a really nice size (approx. wingspan 95.5 inches / 243 cm; depth 59 inches / 150 cm) but should be a fairly quick knit as the yarn is a DK weight so you will soon have a beautifully warm shawl to keep you cozy!

You can find Jen’s pattern for sale on Ravelry here.

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Raspberry Cheesecake shawl by Jess LaBlache

Jess has recently released her ‘Raspberry Cheesecake Shawl’ which I tech edited for her. This triangular top-down shawl can be knit in any weight of yarn you like! The sample shown here was knit in a fingering weight yarn and used a little under 400m.

The shawl is made up of 5 different sections with some nice textured patterning. You can buy Jess’s pattern on Ravelry here.

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Sisterlove Shawl by Avril Liljekvist

Avril has recently released this lovely shawl pattern which I had the pleasure of tech editing for her.Β  This half-circular shawl is designed to be knit using a lace weight yarn (it uses between 600 – 800 metres). Instructions for the lace section are provided in both written and charted format. You can also add beads if desired.

You can purchase Avril’s pattern here.

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Eureka Shawl by Katalin Beth…

I recently tech edited Katalin’s ‘Eureka Shawl’ pattern. Knitted top-down and almost entirely in garter stitch, the lovely shale border worked in different colours adds interest and texture. The shawl is finished with a knitted-on edge – I love this technique – don’t be afraid to try it if you haven’t come across it before! It’s so much more fun than simply casting off lots of stitches πŸ˜‰

The shawl can be knit in DK or fingering weight yarn. You can purchase Katalin’s pattern here.

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Tech editing course…

I am currently working my way through Joeli’s Tech Editing course. I’m really enjoying it and have just signed up for ‘Learn to Tech Edit: The Next Steps’. I still have one assignment to do for the current course so I’m hoping to make a start on the ‘Next steps’ in a couple of weeks time.

I have yet again found a good reason to add to my already too large library of books (oops!) with ‘Sweater Design in Plain English’ by Maggie Righetti – I haven’t had time for more than a quick look through yet but it seems like a really comprehensive book and I’m sure it will be very useful. I also bought Kate Atherley’s book ‘The Beginner’s Guide to Writing Knitting Patterns’ – I really like the look of this one and bought it more to help me write up some of my own patterns than for the tech editing course. I absolutely love books and I still prefer to buy a physical book to a digital one if it’s a reference book.

So, my plans for this bank holiday weekend mostly involve having my head in a book (or several) and working on my next assignment!