For the joy of Making: Spirit of Winter FO

As a child, I would get really excited by making random things that were exactly as I wanted them. This mostly manifested as bits of fabric wrapped into shoes, clothes, coats and hats and I didn't care what anyone else thought of them. I spent a lot of time playing with fabric remnants (see the bottom of this old post for proof). Both my mum and nan were avid sewists and knitters and while  I didn't have the patience for knitting, I could fashion anything with a bit of scrap fabric, a belt or two, and occasionally the odd bit of Copydex glue! The best part of four decades later, I usually work from patterns, or make up my own designs and then turn them into patterns so they can be duplicated by others. (Honestly, it's not nearly as much fun when you're trying to appeal to other people.)

When I made the Spirit of Summer Shawl (free pattern here, in collaboration with Scheepjes) I loved creating the fabric (simple and relaxing - my perfect kind of project) and had the idea to use the same stitches to make a 'grey thing'. I didn't honestly know what it would be, but it needed to start as a rectangle. Crocheting it was just for the joy of working with the super soft cotton/acrylic yarn, and not having to think.




So I carried the project around for a bit, working a few rows here and there - from the sidelines of LM's ballet class, having coffee with friends, watching TV. And then last Friday I picked it up and slung it around my neck - it felt finished! I took it to ballet and Street Dance that night, and by the time we came home it was edged and complete, apart from blocking which I still haven't done - and which would make it look much nicer and more 'finished' but it's cold and I wanted to wear it straight away.


Indeed I've worn it most days - it's small enough to fit inside my huge winter coat, or indoors where it's warmer, but my desk is in a bit of a draught. It's not really big enough to call it a wrap or a stole or a scarf. I'm not sure what it is but I love it, so I'm just calling it Spirit of Winter. 


Although I love shawl pins, this open stitch makes it possible to grab any part of the fabric and thread it through the holes. This makes it very easy to style in a lot of different ways - it's versatile for such a small thing. 


THE PARTICULARS:
What about you? Do you ever start making a 'thing' and then see what it turns into? I think I'm going to do it a bit more - purely for the joy of making. 

4 comments

  1. I love it Sarah - I have the yarn for Spirit of Summer when Ive finished my husbands Mangham courtesy of Dedri. Did you work this end to end or side to side - Im not clever enough to work it out. And can you share the dimensions or a pic of it open please? Hoping you will do something easy and clever in crochet with Scheepjes new Wanderlust yarn.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Maggie - I worked along the short edge and there are 19 repeats of the pattern, but squared off at the ends. It's approx 65cm across the short edge x 115cm along the long edge (unblocked - it would be bigger if stretched out). I'm currently swatching with Wanderlust and will post a review when it's in the shops :)

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