Blocking shawls

I love knitting shawls and I knit quite a lot of them. To me, they are a lot of fun to knit and also essential items in my wardrobe – year round. Even after dozens and dozens of shawls, I still marvel at the magic that blocking does to the finished items. And how much the shawls usually grow in size during the process.

When I was blocking my Jovial shawl, I decided to film how I do it and make a blocking tutorial. You can view it on the Lina Knits YouTube channel.

Also check out Jovial on Ravelry! This light and playful shawls is perfect for experimenting with different color combinations. I knit mine to be spring and summer shawl using Canopy fingering by The Fibre Co., a blend of alpaca, wool and bamboo, but you can use a woollier wool, too!

Great knitting patterns for spring

Here in Finland, and elsewhere in the Northern hemisphere, the warmer months are ahead of us. With the rising temperatures, it’s time to pack away the thick, winter knits. And bring out something more suitable for spring. Not forgetting the mornings and evenings can still be cold!

Here are some Lina Knits patterns that are perfect for spring:

Cloud Shadows

Pentala

Rhubarb Pie

All of these – and more – are available in the Lina Knits Ravelry store!

A cozy shawl for cold weather

Cozy up with this warm shawl! Snow Lantern was inspired by and made for snow days. Or just dreaming of them. Double seed stitch, cables and plenty of fun bobbles… There’s texture upon texture in this triangle shaped shawl knit out of worsted weight wool.

I know bobbles can be a bit intimidating, so I made a video tutorial for them on the Lina Knits YouTube channel. So if you’ve never knit bobbles before, check it out!

Knitting tutorials on the Lina Knits channel

I have uploaded two simple tutorials on the Lina Knits channel on YouTube. The explanations are written, so you can watch it without the voice on and therefore view it at anytime, anywhere.

The first tutorial shows you how to do an i-cord bind-off. This technique is quite common in shawls, as it gives a nice, neat edge. I use it in my Memory Keeper’s Shawl, for example.

The second tutorial shows you how to close a crown of a hat. It’s very simple and easy to do!

A great shawl for first time lace knitters

I have collaborated with a New Zealand yarn company The Woven on two shawls. Both shawls were based on the idea of relaxing, enjoyable knitting. Pentala is the first of these patterns that’s now available on Ravelry. The Woven also sells kits for the shawl (including the pattern).

Pentala is a rectangular shawl knit on the bias. It has familiar garter stitch interspersed with pretty lace panels. The lace is engaging yet easy to knit and the pattern has both written and charted instructions for those sections. Whether you’ve knit lace before or not, I’m sure you’ll enjoy knitting this shawl!

A new shawl for autumn

I'm so happy to be sharing this pattern, Cloud Shadows, with you! Once I cast it on, I was not able to stop knitting. Just one more stripe... one more lace repeat... and the shawl was done sooner than I thought it would. And I had enjoyed every stitch! My test knitters have enjoyed this pattern a lot, too, and some are already knitting their second ones.

And what’s not to love? Color play, stripes, garter stitch, a bit of easy yet pretty lace… This shawl has got it all!

You'll need two colors of fingering weight yarn: 366 m / 400 yds of MC and 183 m / 200 yds of CC. I used Old Maiden Aunt Superwash Merino 4 ply in Seen the Ocean (MC) and Dreich (CC) to knit mine. Check out the projects on Ravelry to see what my test knitters used for more ideas

Have fun choosing your colors and cast on! The pattern is available on Ravelry.

Happy knitting,
Lina

Cozy fingerless mitts

A definite fall favorite for me is a pair of hand knit fingerless mitts. The crisp air and gorgeous colors in nature make me want to be out and about, near and far, and woolly mitts are just the thing to keep me warm. Secret Grove is wonderfully textured pattern with a secret grove hidden within that is more or less visible, based on your yarn choice.

I used Tuskenknits Brae (sadly discontinued) in Love Struck Baby to knit my pair. Tuskenknits has another BFL base, called Bracken, that you can substitute with. But any fingering weight yarn with good stitch definition will work! You need 220 m / 240 yds to knit a pair. There’s only one size, but the stitch pattern is quite stretchy so it will fit a variety of hand sizes.

A warm hat for autumn

With the approaching cooler seasons, I felt it was time to show some love to another older pattern of mine. Even if it is too warm to wear a cabled hat one now, it’s the perfect time to knit one, right?

The Hilltop hat begins with a familiar rib in the round, but takes a road less travelled to get to the top. The body of the hat is formed by a cable panel that’s knit sideways on to the rib. Then stitches are picked up for the crown, which is again knit in the round.

The pattern has now been updated into the new layout and I got new photos to boot!

Colorwork socks for fall

A knitter’s way of storing summer flowers for years to come is – of course – to knit them in everyday items like socks. This way you can preserve the beautiful blooms to bring floral joy year-round. Knit them for yourself or give as lovely handknit gifts. And the best part about the knitted Pressed Flowers? You can make them in any season, no need to wait for fresh blooms. Just pick two colorways that have enough contrast in them and cast on!

In addition to the big, beautiful flower motif, Pressed Flowers has simple colorwork bands and a contrasting cuff and toe. Besides the ribbed cuff, these socks are knit in stockinette stitch, and worked in sport weight yarn, so they knit up surprisingly quickly.

Garden Delights pattern club

Welcome to the first Lina Knits pattern club, Garden Delights! As delicious as their baked counterparts, all patterns in the Garden Delights club are full of summer fun. They are easy to knit and easy to wear. All designs use just one skein of fingering weight yarn.

The club contains three single skein shawls, released one at a time, on the 15th of June, July and August. All the patterns are exclusive to the club for the duration of the club. You can join at any time from today until the end of August.

The first pattern: Cherry Cake

The deep, dark red cherries speak of warm days. A baker has to be speedy in picking them, as the birds love the berries, too. Just as its baked counterpart, the Cherry Cake shawl is traditional and full of summer fun. 
 
Cherry Cake has an elongated triangle shape. The eyelet patterns in this one-skein shawl maximize the yardage and bring lightness to the fabric. The two halves of the shawl aren’t exact mirror images, bringing a bit of whimsy to the design.

Scrap yarn shawl

Memory Keeper’s Shawl was born out of a desire to knit all of my scrap yarn left over from other projects into a beautiful and meaningful project. I wanted the focus to be on the yarns, on the memories. And I wanted the knitting to be relaxing. I also wanted the design to be somewhat adaptable to different yardages and individual yarn consumption due to slightly different gauges.

The result is Memory Keeper’s Shawl. Easy to knit, this shawl is perfect for picking up here and there when new scraps appear. Or sit down for some relaxing TV knitting with your bag or jar of those precious left-overs and knit all at once.

Your first pair of lace socks, that sweater you knit for your first born, that yarn you got while on holiday. All the memories, all the moments. Knit them all into this shawl and create a fiber scrapbook of your memories. Using a neutral color as a second yarn throughout the shawl creates a cohesive, calming look to the whole shawl so you don’t have to worry about the skeins matching. This shawl will look like you, like the projects you’ve knit in the past.