New KAL – Summer Solstice Mystery Shawl KAL from Wendy Johnson!

From Wendy:

The shawl is sort of a crescent shape that stays on the shoulders nicely. Knit from fingering weight yarn (expect it to take around 420 yards and it’s better to have a more solid than variegated colorway), it is extremely easy to re-size (and complete instructions for doing so will be included).

It is Estonian-style lace and you can knit it either with nupps or without. You’ll receive a step-by-step photo tutorial for knitting nupps with your pattern purchase.You could conceivably place beads instead of nupps, but I’m not including instructions for beading because I am not an expert in beaded knitting. But if you have experience knitting with beads, you could do so, and I’ll let you know in the materials list how many beads you would need.

The pattern will be both charted and written out line by line.

Skill level: To knit this shawl, you need to be able to:

knit purl cast on stitches bind off stitches work yarn overs and k2tog and ssk decreases

There are a couple more maneuvers used in knitting the shawl (like a centered double decrease), but they are explained thoroughly in the pattern, so if you can do the above, you can knit the shawl.

The KAL will start on the Summer Solstice: June 20, 2012. The pattern will be available for sale June 1, 2012 in my Ravelry store for $2.00.If you purchase the pattern before June 20, you will receive the materials list, information on shawl size and notes about knitting it larger or smaller. Gauge information and instructions for knitting a gauge swatch will be included.

So, hurry, go over to Ravelry and get yourself signed up! HERE

Looking to chat about Knitting and Patterns? Check out our Facebook Knitting page and our Facebook group dedicated to Knitting and Knitting Patterns.

Looking for more amazing shawl patterns? Check out these Knitting patterns we found on Etsy.

I rarely understand why something becomes a trend in crafting. Gnomes and geese are both cute I guess, but I never thought we’d be making them for all seasons. (See, for example, this collection of gnome knitting patterns, or these knit geese.)

Another one I don’t totally understand is sardines or little fish more generally. Sure, they’re cute, and the shape is fun, but I had no idea when I was sharing this pattern for a fish-shaped pouch last year that it would become a hugely popular pattern that people are still searching for on the site. It is pretty cute, though, so if you weren’t around then or don’t remember you should got check it out.

Recently another fishy knitting pattern crossed my monitor: the little knit fish from Classical Songbird Designs.

Just as the name suggests, these fish are little, about 4.5 inches or 11 cm from end to end. They look like little sardines and take about 12 yards of sock yarn to make.

You can even make a two-tone fish and use just 6 yards of each color.

This sounds to me like just about the perfect use for the yarn that’s left over after knitting a pair of socks, or a mini skein or several that have been sitting around unused in your stash.

The fish are knit flat in one piece, which makes it easy to stitch on the eyes with more yarn or embroidery floss before stuffing, and you can stitch up the sides while you stuff (though it’s not a very big piece so you could probably stitch and then stuff, finishing with the end of the tail).

Because I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one wondering, I measured an Altoids box and as the pattern is written the fish are a little too big to fit in it (the box is about 4 inches/10 cm long). But you could make the fish a little smaller if you want to make a box of them. Or just make a fishy bag to put them in!

You can grab the free pattern for the little knit fish at Classical Songbird Designs.

[Photo: Classical Songbird Designs.]

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