Shetland Lace Shawl

Many years ago I found this beautiful baby shawl in an old knitting book that belonged to my mother.  I knit it, for the first time, when I was only 15 years old.  Since then I have knit dozens; for my three children, my 8 grandchildren and custom ordered sales.

I have adapted the original pattern to modern knitting terminoligy and knit several shawls to make sure there are no errors in my pattern.  The shawl in the photo was knit with acrylic yarn and not blocked.  If it was knit with a natural fibre it could be blocked to a larger size, opening up the stunning lace design.

I designed my Ribbons and Lace Christening Gown to be a perfect match to the Shetland Lace Shawl. 
Each of these PDF patterns can be purchased from my Etsy Shop:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/Nittineedles

Ribbons and Lace Christening Gown

This is one of my most popular patterns.  It took me months to design and I knit not just one but two samples to make sure there were no errors in the pattern. 

The gowns in the photos were knit with acrylic yarn and were not blocked.  If the dress was knit with a natural fibre the skirt could be blocked for more length.

This hierloom quality Christening gown was designed to be a perfect match to the Shetland Lace Shawl.

Each of these PDF patterns can be purchased from my Etsy shop:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/Nittineedles

My Etsy Shop

Just click on a picture to see the details for each PDF knitting pattern or hand knit item.

My New Blog

and lots of free patterns can be found at: http://greasy.com/nittineedles/ and http://nittineedles.blogster.com/

Just Finished

Baby jacket and hat made with pink chenille and multi coloured eyelash yarn plyed together.

More Knitting

This next one is the cardigan I knit up for my two year old grandson's third birthday this summer. It was supposed to be for Christmas but I expect he'll have out grown it by then. It's just a basic V neck cardigan that I've added some cables to.

I finished this pullover for myself. I call it my gold leaf sweater. This is not my design. It's from Paton's. The good news is: IT FITS!
Close up of the leaves and berries.

Damn Cat

If I didn't love her so much I'd cook her up for dinner!

My First Handspun Knit Shrug

My first knit item from my first ball of wool I spun on my first spinning wheel. After taking the picture I was able to step back and look at it with fresh eyes. I no longer consider it to be as hideous as I thought it would when it was still on the needles. Actually, it looks pretty darn good. It fits. It's warm. I love my new shrug! Maybe I should write down the pattern before I forget what I did.


I ran out of my home spun (light blue stripes on right sleeve and across most of the back) so I found a cake of denim blue Buffalo Wool and spun it up to finish the left sleeve. With all the different colours in it I don't think it's too noticeable.

My First Ball

As per the instructions, I soaked the skein in hot water and dish detergent to set the twist. Then I rinsed the detergent out in more hot water and slung it in the washing machine to spin out the rinse water. It took forever to dry, draped over the back of my rocking chair strategically placed near the gas fireplace, but once it was I wound it into the thing of beauty you see below.

The next step is to find a pattern for something useful for myself, that only needs 100g and knit it up.

A Couple More Firsts

First bobbin full of my hand spun wool.


As you can see, I have improved. Not by much but I have improved.


First skein on my niddy noddy. Apparently, spinners use cutesy names too.

My yarn looks much better on the niddy noddy as lots of the kinks got stretched out. The next step is to tie off my skein and wash it to set the twist. After it dries I'll wind it into a ball and knit something. I haven't yet decided on what to knit but whatever it turns out to be will be kept. I'm not giving away or selling any of my firsts.

I Gave My Spinning Wheel

a whirl *yuk, yuk* and, as I expected, my first attempt at spinning was a complete and utter disaster but so was my first attempt at knitting so it really hasn't put me off. The instructions said to tease the rovings so I called it a fat, hairy gorilla but I think the roving is overly sensitive because it just wouldn't cooperate after that. No problem. My mom is coming for my birthday, next week and she'll show me what I'm doing wrong.

Also finished two more pairs of socks. One pair for my tootsies and a little pair from the leftovers.