YOUR KNITWEAR CONNECTION

Knitting sets your mind free and makes you see the other side of whatever this will be.....the purlside or the happier side of life!

Monday, April 15, 2013

Kate Middleton Angora Bolero/Shrug


I really love it when I get to see the finished garments knitted from my patterns. And this one especially! This bolero is knitted from my Royal Wedding Shrug Pattern. This wedding took place in Scotland. I feel so honored!
I know there are more patterns out there but I still like mine the best. It is not a 100% copy of the bolero Kate Middleton wore on her wedding day but it is something that even the not so experienced knitter could tackle and you don't have to pick up stitches around the fronts which can ruin the look immensely. 
I know the purchase price for the angora yarn is high but you can still wear the bolero after the big day. Also - no future queen would have worn something made out of cheap material. 
As an alternative for the angora yarn I would recommend two strands of a lace weight mohair yarn held together, e. g. Rowan Kidsilk Haze yarn which comes in many beautiful colors as well, the bridesmaids could wear a matching colored bolero! 
Thank you Enid for choosing my pattern and sending me these gorgeous pictures!

Monday, January 21, 2013

Increasing Waves

Noro Silk Garden! Five skeins and five attempts to come up with the perfect project. It started out as an easy triangular wrap but because of the long rows the color changes appeared too often and made the shawl look rather striped than pretty. More attempts followed and finally the right project appeared. 
I am very happy with it! Starting out with only 6 stitches you gradually have to increase the waves and the center and the short rows add the waves. For the short row technique I picked the "Double Stitch" method which so far I had only used on socks. The "Wrap &Turn" method left long open stitches which could look good but I wasn't so thrilled about it. 
Here is a video where you can see how the Double Stitch is worked:
As always the pattern is available for purchase as download.