This week the new Scheepjes Yarn Book-a-zine was released and the theme is WOMAN! It’s celebration of women in all of our various forms and roles in life and I’m so proud to be a part of this issue. You can get a sneak peek of mine and some of the other wonderful designs on the cover, with even more lovely projects and inspiration hidden inside.
I am especially proud because it really does celebrate all women, which you can see just from the cover alone. Not only did they use a range of age and ethnicity, but one thing I absolutely love (love, love, LOVE!) is that they used a plus sized model. My struggles with my weight is no secret here on my blog and having spent the majority of my life being plus sized, I love seeing this beautiful model, with her incredible hair (which gives me major hair envy) as a part of our celebration. Well done Scheepjes for TRULY including all women in this amazing issue.
Ok, now on to my contribution, because I’m so excited to chat about it!
I was asked to design a knitted shawl for this issue, to accompany a lovely crocheted shawl designed by Susan from Felted Button, with both using complimentary colourways of Scheepjes Our Tribe. The idea was to have a Big Sister / Little Sister photo shoot, with the big / little also reflected in the size of the shawls. I wasn’t just asked to design a shawl, but a HUGE shawl with a looonng fringe, emphasis on the huge. Boy, did they come to the right place, right?! I think any of you still working your way through the Between the Lines Shawls would agree, big shawls are really kind of my thing lately! I wasn’t sure fringes were, but to be honest, the idea really grew on me as the design started to take shape.
I had a quick glance at Susan’s shawl at a get together at Scheepjes HQ last year and wanted to try to make something that was similar but unique. A design that would be the same enough and different enough at the same time, hrmmm… I remembered that I wanted to incorporate “diamonds and holes” and went from there. Every design has to start somewhere, so that was a pretty good jumping off point for me.
Let’s have a look!
** Happy Sigh **
I mean… gorgeous, right? The whole idea, the models and the shawls together?! It’s great! I love this! Susan’s Little Sister Shawl is just so, so pretty. It is made using the Miss Neriss colourway of Our Tribe yarn and the combination is perfection. My Big Sister Shawl is done in the much more subtle Simy colourway which is just right as it allows them both to shine without clashing, and brings it all together beautifully. If you look closely on the photos you will see the hint of blue, yellow and purplish stripes running across the shawl and in the fringe.
Here is a ‘real life’ photo I took before sending it off, where you can see the colours a bit better.
The Big Sister Shawl is, indeed, huge. Its blocked dimensions are 200cm x 155cm with an additional (and optional) fringe of approximately 40cm. It uses three balls of Our Tribe Yarn on 4mm needles and, I think, is a very fun knit. This is an intermediate pattern which is worked straight from the bottom up, as you can see from the pale stripes that go straight across the shawl. It’s an interesting knit, though, which doesn’t keep you glued to the pattern the entire time, but switches things up enough to keep it interesting. The pattern is also given in both written and chart form, so you can follow it in whichever way you find most convenient.
Like a lot of large shawls of this type, it is enormous spread out but is easy to scrunch up and wear in a number of different ways as it is thin and has a beautiful drape. If you are like me and prefer to have the point at the front and pull the ends around, that also works really well. As I mentioned earlier, I’m usually not a fan of a fringe, but it really grew on me on this one. I think it gives a rather romantic look to the whole thing. The fringe is added at the end so if it’s not your thing, it’s very easy to make it shorter or just leave it off altogether if that’s what you prefer.
So, that’s it! It’s out there now and I really hope you enjoy it!
WHERE TO BUY:
Scheepjes Our Tribe is available and Yarn 5: WOMAN will soon be available for International customers at Woolwarehouse and Black Sheep Wools.
North American and International customers can get their hands on it via Knotty House.
In the Netherlands, Caro’s Atilier is stocked up and ready to go!
You can also ask your preferred Scheepjes retailer or find a shop near you!
This post contains affiliate links. This is a way for you to support Canadutch and me as a designer. It is no extra cost to you, but if you shop via one of these links, I get a small percentage of the sale!
I’ve looked everywhere for a place where I can purchase this pattern, with no luck. This is so beautiful… do you have a link where I can buy either the pattern or the ezine? Just FYI, I checked on the Scheepjes site and Ravelry… they show the pattern, but no where to order… help??
Hi Darlene, do you mean how to buy the pattern on its own? At the moment it is available only as a part of the bookazine, which you can buy at mostly any Scheepjes retailer. If you have a look at the bottom of this blog post I have given some links for where you can find it. Woolwarehouse is a good option, as they have good prices and ship all over the world. :)
That is so beautiful Tammy – I love the Simy colour way – I thought it was white at first but its so subtle and pretty. I was pleased to see the plus size model too :) I dont think I was ever “thin”.