twisted shawlette club | PDXKnitterati

My latest design is out! It’s the May 2013 offering of the Twisted Shawlette Club.

This is the Ooh La Lace Shawlette. You know I love Paris! A life-long love affair with all things French was the inspiration for this lacy edged shawlette. The knitting begins at the lower edge with waves of lace like a can-can dancer’s frilly petticoat, and continues with a row of iconic Eiffel Towers. This crescent shawlette is shaped with simple short rows, and finished with a garter stitch eyelet border at the upper edge. Ooh la la!

I am thrilled to be this month’s designer for Twisted. Shannon and Emily are so lovely to work with, and they are always coming up with great club ideas. This month’s yarn was dyed by Raya over at Blissful Knits; this is her BFL Silk Sock in Platinum.

After knitting the prototype, I realized there was a lot of yarn leftover, so I knit a larger version in Knitted Wit’s Shine in Brown Sugar.

I love them both. Twisted Shawlette Club members get the pattern and Raya’s lovely yarn together as an exclusive. We’re trying a new thing with this club. The pattern is available separately from Twisted so you can knit one for yourself, right now. (Don’t we all love instant gratification?) You can pick it up in hard copy form at the shop, or use this link to the Ravelry pattern page to purchase it online. Knit one now and dream of Paris with me!

January was supposed to be Selfish Knitting Month, but I haven’t started anything for myself. I’m working on a design for Twisted’s Shawlette Club instead. When inspiration strikes, you have to run with it!

I can’t show you what I’m working on, but it is gorgeous and I love it. I even have a name for it. (Sometimes coming up with a name is the hardest part of designing.) The yarn is a luxury fiber from Blissful Knits, and it is decadently wonderful to knit with. How’s that for vague, but enthusiastic? I’m nearly done knitting the prototype, and will be sorry to no longer have this yarn running through my fingers. But you can have it running through your fingers if you sign up for the club! The first club package goes out in March; my design is in the second package, in May. I love sock yarns, but I’m not much of a sock knitter. Shawlettes are a perfect way to use these lovely yarns without knitting socks!

But I do want to knit something for me this month, too. I need a new cardigan. My Central Park Hoodie is pilly and no longer fit to wear in public. Help me decide what to knit next! I want a top-down cardi that I can knit fairly quickly. I’m thinking of DK or worsted weight yarn. Shalom? Tea Leaves? I don’t want anything with a really wide yoke, though. Help!

Have *you* found the perfect selfish knitting project?