Once upon a couple or so years ago, a lovely Danish lady called Dieuwke lived in Dubai for some time. The Amiras were lucky to have met her and saw for ourselves the astonishing talent that she has when it comes to knitting. I remember a turquoise top she was knitting at the time and she was making such quick progress on it despite making modifications to the design. And then the next time we saw her, she was actually wearing the turquoise top!

I suppose it was only a matter of time before all that talent would spill over onto designing knitwear and making waves in festivals and on Ravelry. So very proud of you, Dieuwke!

Therefore, when she hosted a KAL in her Ravelry group for Brighton Beach, I just had to sign up. This is a fun shawl pattern she designed for Unwind Brighton this year. Naturally, I knitted not one, but two shawls in quick succession because they are just that much fun and easy to make.

For my first shawl I decided to use Skein Top Draw Socks. I have a small stash of this yarn and have been dying to find the right pattern for them. Skein yarn is famous for not pooling, flashing or spiralling despite the seemingly random variegation. And it did not disappoint.

The yarn felt almost silky to the touch while knitting even though it’s a merino/nylon blend. It was lofty too for a sock yarn. And the colours. Well, see for yourself below. This is an exclusive club colourway too so rather special to me.

Raveled!
Needle: US 6 – 4.0 mm
Yarn: Skein Top Draw Socks, 393.3 yards, colourway: Sea Glass
Cast on: 4 July 2014
Cast off: 24 July 2014

I enjoyed knitting that first shawl so much that I started another one as soon as my needles were free. While I loved that first shawl and because I like a bit more coverage in my shawls, I decided to use a heavier sock yarn. MCN blend is always a good choice since it blooms after a soak. And this is Sundara Yarn too so I knew it was going to be fabulous.

Raveled!
Yarn: Sundara Yarn Fingering Merino Cashmere, 400.0 yards, colourway: Razzleberry Swirl
Cast on: 25 July 2014
Cast off: 27 July 2014
Note: Yes, I knitted this in two days which happened to be during our weekend so I had free time on my hands, and a TV marathon to keep me entertained.

The shawl is knitted from the top down, so yes you cast on hundreds of stitches before you can start knitting. But don’t let this put you off. As soon as you start knitting, you are decreasing the number of stitches by 10 for every repeat of the gorgeous sea foam pattern and before you know it, you have 33 stitches left and ready to start the final set of lace repeat and you bind off just a few stitches to finish it off.

I should really re-block these shawls to open up the lace edging. I was in such a hurry to get them done and also needed to block them away from the cats. I just opened the edging as I laid it out on the blocking mats but the combination of springy merino and squishy garter stitch meant the lace bounced right back in.

I am still keen on knitting a third shawl, this time a stockinette version and maybe use a sport weight yarn to see if it would help add to the depth of the finished shawl.