Auchnaha

an interesting construction, and engaging knit

Read More

Norwegian Forest

Christina Campbell introduces a beautiful shawl, inspired by where she is, and where she is not.

Read More

the thaw

Rebecca Osborn shares a beautiful design, inspired by her place in the Canadian Arctic

Read More

Cas

Eimear Earley introduces a gorgeous shawl inspired by the golden age of Irish art

Read More

beamer

A shawl for midsummer! A shawl red as a June strawberry, light as an evening breeze! The name of the pattern is Beamer Now, in many parts of Scotland, Beamer is not a particular brand of car, but a word for blushing. To “take a beamer” means to blush – most usually with embarassment –…

Read More

a cowslip hap

Hello! Friday is project reveal day, and up today is a light and simple knit I’m really enjoying wearing at the moment – The Observatory. I originally created this design for our West Highland Way book, building the pattern around one of my all-time favourite Shetland lace edgings. This edging has a wonderful, intuitive rhythm,…

Read More

Inside and outside the red box

Inside and outside the red box A Bold Beginner Knits tutorial for the Footfall shawl Many hand-knit designs – for everything from lace shawls, to Fairisle hats and cabled pullovers – use charted pattern repeats – which often appear within a red box. The red box is, I think, one simple reason why some beginner…

Read More

footfall

Are you a beginner knitter who is wary of lace shawls? Does the very idea of putting holes in your knitting scare you? Or does a lace shawl just appear too complicated a thing for you to consider attempting? Well, Footfall – the latest pattern release from Bold Beginner Knits – offers you a deceptively…

Read More

summer shawls

We are gradually adding a range of different kits, books, and other products to the KDD shop, and the latest to arrive are kits for two of my most popular shawl designs – Fantoosh, and A Hap for Harriet. Both shawls are great for summer knitting, and I think both also make ideal accessories for…

Read More

thankyou, KCG

A few weeks ago, I visited the home of the UK Knitting and Crochet Guild – a fantastic organisation that exists to support and promote the crafts of knitting and crochet. The KCG is supported entirely by charitable donation, and is staffed by a group of wonderful volunteers, who administer a growing international membership; organise…

Read More

Have you knit this pattern?

Do you recognise this pattern? Did you knit it or do you know someone who did? You may know it as Patons 893, or 1085, or H283, or simply as the tree of life pattern (under which name it is still being sold today on eBay). Did you knit it, or receive it in its…

Read More

generosity

What an amazing week I had in Shetland! It was a complete privilege to see and talk to so many amazing knitters, who generously shared their work and thoughts with me. Mary Kay, at the Shetland Guild of Spinners, Weavers and Dyers, shows us an incredibly fine lace shawl, knitted in Unst around 1930. Joan…

Read More

Fantoosh!

FANTOOSH! – my new spring shawl – is now available. Fantoosh is a top-down triangular shawl featuring a tesselating allover motif defined by centred double decreases and twisted stitches. Its a lovely rhythmic knit with a pleasing end result! In Scots, fantoosh means “fancy”, or a wee bit “over the top”. When I was at…

Read More

Sontag

I have a design published in the new Rowan Magazine! It is a simple triangular shawl or “Sontag” knit up in three tasty shades of Rowan Fine Tweed. (shades Wensley, Bedale, and Dent) The garment is named after Henriette Sontag — a German singer, who brought this kind of shallow, front-crossing shawl to the attention…

Read More