Thursday, 8 August 2013

Pick A Boo! from... guess who....?

With Sarah on holiday I thought I might pop by and gate-crash the party! I am Bev and I design shawls under the name of Boo Knits!  I have been enjoying the Pick-a-Boo KAL so much and there are so many wonderful shawls being created, I am in total heaven.  Yarn, beads, lace, colour, texture each one quite different and unique.  I think that is the wonderful thing about knitting - you get to create something unique, each stitch of it made with love and joy.  

I love the childlike excitement of walking into a yarn store or opening a package, usually before the postman has reached the end of the drive, the smell of yarn, the sparkle of beads, the wonder of blocking when the crumpled piece of ‘rag’ is transformed into a wondrous beauty.

I didn’t set out to design shawls, I didn’t even set out to knit them; I really just fell into it. I wanted to do something in the evenings and decided to knit a hat; bought the book and the yarn. I didn’t even cast on. I went back to the yarn store after a couple of weeks and bought another ball of the same yarn, deciding to start simple and practice by knitting a big woolly shawl because it was just knitting and I didn’t think I would be capable of knitting the hat. I went back several times for extra yarn and eventually took my finished shawl in to show the owner of the store. She smiled and told me I had knit a lace shawl - I didn’t believe her, it was in worsted weight. I had no idea that lace could be in any weight and that the feather and fan stitch meant it was a lace shawl nevertheless. I could have floated home, I was so astounded. I bought a skein of lace weight yarn there and then and decided to knit a ‘real’ lace shawl. I did but mainly because everyone that saw the fine 2ply yarn told me that I would never knit with it.

There was no stopping me then but I found that with each shawl I made I changed the pattern. I wanted it wider, shallower, bigger, smaller, more lace, less lace ... Eventually, when I bought a skein of Faery Wings by Fyberspates I decided to have a go at making something myself using one skein; I didn’t even consider it a design. I knit my shawl and lots of people liked it, asking me to write it out so they could knit it too. Dragonfly Wings was released and I have just carried on knitting things I like and writing them down so everyone else can knit them too. I would never have imagined the fun I have had, things I have learned and friends I have made through knitting. So much magic from winding string (very pretty string) around sticks!

Above you can see the latest pattern, Kindred Spirit. An amazingly quick and easy knit with a super quick bind off in fingering weight yarn and kid silk mohair. I hope you will all join us for the MKAL for Halloween this year.  We will be casting on on the 1st October with the first clue so we will all have time to finish and wear our shawls on the 31st!  It will be an all over lace, crescent shaped, beaded shawl worked in 2ply lace (800m/100g).  More information will be released in the Boo Group, on Ravelry, nearer the time.

4 comments:

  1. It is so lovely to see you here Bev. I came across your shawls purely through Sarah's group and what can I say I fell in love with the shawls. I had such a hard time picking my first shawl from the selection continually changing my mind. I eventually settled on the Quite Continental and I've never knit up a shawl so quickly. I am now going to cast on Kindred Spirit as there is just something so enchanting about it's simplicity. I love it !

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  2. You are amazing. I love this newest design as I'm finding I would rather wear a rounded edge shark than a pointed one.

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  3. Your designs are wonderful, Bev. I found your designs through Sarah's KAL too - I'm saving 'Out of Darkness' for my holiday knitting - roll on Monday!
    Deb x

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  4. Your designs are all so beautiful Bev...I have so enjoyed making my first lace shawl, and I know I will be casting on another very soon....only problem is, like Ruth (My spare moments) I don't know which to pick....thankyou for telling us a little about where you started out...gives me hope of where I can work towards!

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