When do you know you haven’t blogged for too long? When your mother tells you she’s been to your site and the last entry was from January! That really gave me a little push, and I’ll take some time within the next days to tell you what I’ve been up to lately.

The biggest project that kept me busy throughout the last year was the 5 Shawls collection I did together with my friends at Quince & Co.

5 Shawls

This has been a collaboration I loved from A to Z and I’m happy and proud that it’s finally live!

5 Shawls is all about a special yarn – Owl. It’s a worsted weight blend of wool and alpaca, a rustic yarn with its very own character. It comes in a large and beautiful color palette and I was instantly drawn to the neutral shades. They were harmonic and offered so many subtle variations – something that I tried to show with the collection.

Vouvray

So, what is it that draws so many of us to knitting shawls?

Is it the way they easily knit up and allow us to quickly see progress? Is it the lesser importance of working at an exact gauge, hence granting a relaxed knitting experience because two or three inches off won’t matter? Or, thinking of the finished piece, the versatility they offer in wearing them?

For me, it’s probably a mix of all these.

I’m both – a process and a progress knitter. I want to enjoy my knitting experience as much as the finished piece, and when designing patterns, I put a strong focus on this, too.

Isn’t it enjoyable keeping your hands busy while working on a project, and at the same time allowing your thoughts to wander, daydream for a while? I feel my energy tanks are refilling when I’m knitting this way, and I wanted to pass this on to you.

Talamu
The collection includes five shawls – each of them special in its very own way, but at the same time, all five share a common element: The ease of knitting.

I’ve tried to add as much variation as possible, always keeping this element in mind. You’ll find triangular shawls, semi-circular shawls, ones that use eye-catching colorwork and ones that reside more on the subtle side of colorplay. Lovely garter stitch makes up for a relaxed knitting experience, while different approaches to colorwork softly guide you to using new techniques, making them simple to grasp.

Owl offers a beautiful palette, and I really was drawn to the wide variety of neutrals. It’s amazing having a colorful and vibrant accessory, one that makes you stand out and instantly draws everyone’s eyes on you, but for this collection, I wanted to stay on the subtle side. Just as the generous size of each of these five shawls offers a great wearability, their muted colorschemes will make sure they’ll pair well together with most any piece of your wardrobe.

Sit back for a while and picture the clothes you wear most – are these the vibrant ones, wildly patterned, an explosion of style? Or do you rather feel yourself when dressed in understated pieces, suitable for every day? I found that for me, it’s the latter most times, and this is something I wanted to echo in the spirit of this collection.

Taine

Well, neutral doesn’t mean boring! After I narrowed down the colors to only a few, ranging from bright beige over different shades of grey to a dark and strong brown, it was exciting to pair them with each other and to see how different they make each other appear like. Playing with these combinations was inspiring and I was pleased seeing each single shawl grow on my needles.

So, where will you go from here? Will you follow me and create soft pieces of beauty that’ll prove loyal companions in everyday life? Or will you take your shawls to the funky side, accenting your appearance with some color? Both is possible, and sometimes the truth lies in the middle. I’ll be excited to see you make these pieces your own!

Linook
If you like to, come over to my group on Ravelry and share your ideas, your works in progress or your finished shawls! ♥
Rikochan