If you are a follower of our Scheepjes Bloggers group you will have noticed a few posts recently about our friend Bernadette, otherwise known as Berniolie. Bernadette has been ill for quite some time now and is currently in the hospital. The bloggers, and crafting community as a whole, have been trying to show their support for her and her business by sharing links to her design pages on Ravelry and Etsy in hopes of introducing her to crafters who may not be familiar with her work and be interested in her designs.
She is a fabulous designer and astounds us all with the speed in which she not only comes up with ideas, but creates them! I may have (totally did) asked her flat out if she has a sweat shop in her basement, because she can knit / crochet a thing in the time it takes some of us just to cast on, but she swears she doesn’t. Anyway, she is one of the few other knitters in the group, so she’s kinda my peeps, even if she does put me to shame with her speed.
Scheepjes Whirl in Jumpin Jelly (759) and Cotton Candy Man (760)
Remember a while back I was sent some samples of Scheepjes Whirl and was making plans for them? My design plans changed a few times, mostly due to my unbelievable inability to do math, but in the end it turned into something I really love. Unfortunately, I’m not able to share it yet because it’s top secret. Like, if I tell you I have to kill you… but I will most definitely be back with more info on that in the hopefully not too distant future, when I am allowed.
What I didn’t share, was that someone at Scheepjes HQ made an oopsie and sent me two cakes of the Jumpin Jelly colourway by mistake! I sneakily cropped it out of my photos and pretended it didn’t happen. Ok, that’s a lie, I mentioned it in passing just for peace of mind to know I told someone, but then quickly, in a ninja like fashion, changed the subject to distract them!
I WILL NOT BE JUDGED! You would have done the same thing, don’t even try to deny it. When it comes to delightfully colourful rainbow yarn, there are no takebacks! Sorry, not sorry!
Having just designed a mystery thing using two whole cakes of this 1km yarn, I figure knitting something with ONE one will be a breeze, right?! Doing another design takes time and my two cake project is already shipped off to someone else for the next few months before I see it again. So, I wanted an existing pattern that I can just cast on and GO! Oh, and actually hoard and keep for myself.
I figured I could kill a flock of birds with one stone here…
- I realized that I’ve done very (very) few of the projects of my fellow bloggers. Simply because I’ve been so busy working on my own projects or generally busy with life. I’ve fallen in love with so many of their designs but just haven’t gotten around to trying them, so this is a great opportunity to start!
- Who better to start with, than one of the other knitters… since, you know, knitting is my jam! Bernadette certainly has no shortage of knitting designs to choose from. Side note: I love how Ravelry allows you to filter by knitting / crochet, it makes my life so much easier.
- In doing so, I can support this amazing lady during a rough time and hopefully introduce those of you who aren’t familiar with her work in hopes that you see something you like too!
- Take some down time from the whirlwind of design ideas and long list of things that need doing, to work on something that is just a pleasure project, with no deadlines or pressure.
- Use up this yarn before Scheepjes cops on to me. “Aw, too bad, I’ve already knitted it up into this beautiful thing! Such a pity, oh well, random subject change!”
It took me a while to decide which shawl I wanted to make. We are moving in a few weeks to a beautiful house with the most amazing view you could imagine, where there is a large terrace that I plan to spend as much time as humanly possible on. Here’s a sneak peek:
I plan to start as early and go as late as possible, which means I’m going to want a variety of different blankets, wraps, shawls, scarves and anything else I can knit up to keep myself, and hopeful future guests, nice and cosy while we enjoy this lovely spot! I figured that a nice wrap using the Whirl would be great for those summer nights when the chill sets in after a hot day.
I knew I wanted something rectangular, with some lace pattern elements, as I’ve not done that in quite some time. I went back and forth between two patterns for ages!
Hemmingway (top) or Thyrza (bottom)
In the end I decided to go for Thyrza because I really liked the leafy pattern. It’s designed for DK so I’m not sure how it will work out with the width but I can always add a repeat of the pattern if I need to, we’ll see how it works out!
I admit I was really tempted by some of her crochet patterns, especially Izumi and Grace but I knew Thyrza was the one for me. This will hereby be known as my ‘Sorry, not Sorry’ Shawl! Back with updates soon, after I do the responsible thing and finally get the pattern written for my All Good Things Cowl, which is coming soon!
In the meantime, if you are looking for a project, do check out Bernadette’s page and show her a little love if you see something you like!
