Autumn is here already. And with it the endless rainy days that make knitting the perfect pastime when I’m not trying to pick out the lighter moments to get some lovely shots of mushrooms and autumn colours.

For most of the time I have been knitting a bunch of toys that will go to a small shop in Stade, Germany. Here are some Seagulls that caught a little bit of blue sky last week! But I am also working on a new pattern that is currently being test knitted. Just as a small hint: It will be a scrap-happy pattern for sure!! Get your scraps and needles ready 🙂

It has been a summer without summer weather, but packed with weddings. The last one for this year was an autumn wedding and I’m honored to have been asked to knit a shawl to match the bride’s wedding gown. She has been sewing all the clothes for the couple and her daughter herself. Beautiful medieval garb that makes me so jealous of having had a traditional and almost boring wedding gown! I am so thrilled that she would like to wear a hand knit shawl!

So I was already mentally prepared to take a short but necessary break from my ONE WHOLE YEAR WITHOUT ANY YARN PURCHASES (I break into sweat just by writing this) just to find the perfect yarn matching her dress. And what happens? I find the very same colourway in beautiful merino in my stash that I bought at the Hamburger Wollfabrik last year (you can read about that here) Damnit! So much for the joy of going to the yarn store, but I’m sure it saved me a lot of trouble having to put back all those skeins that accidentally fell into my bag…

As a pattern she chose a simple triangle scarf that I had knit a few years back and that she spotted in my wardrobe. I was loosely following the Age of Brass and Steam kerchief by Orange Flower Yarn, but I added more eyelet rows and also blocks of garter stitch plus a looser way to knit the long side, same way as I knit the In Bloom Shawl, so that it’s nice and stretchy. Yes, I’m terrible at following patterns, even my own.

I only had three weeks to knit this shawl and so I needed to hurry to get it ready for her in time. But it was a surprisingly quick knit, even though the yarn was not plied and I had to be careful to grab all strands at the same time. AND of course I almost ran out of yarn on the last few stitches, just as I was binding off the shawl. I’m sure I almost grew twice as much gray hair while sweating for the yarn to run out.  But it turned out to be fine, fortunately.

As a finishing touch I decided to add a beautiful handmade wooden shawl pin that I purchased on Etsy in this store. (They also make beautiful buttons and wood jewelery!) Perfect!

I was so looking forward to see her reaction when she opened the package. Well, she knew I was knitting this in the same colour as her dress, but still… I think it’s always a precious moment to watch the recipient see the gift for the first time. I’m really glad she liked it! Unfortunately it was bucketing down on their wedding day and so we didn’t get to shoot any great pictures, but it still was a cozy little wedding with lots of kiddies and happy people!

Now for some cozy knitting while sipping tea and listening to some good music!

Happy knitting!