Seafoam Shawl from Knit Now Magazine

I have had a week off work and so I ought to have got a lot of knitting done.  I haven’t done as much as I would have liked – but then I never do.  I decided that I wanted to knit something easy.  Last year I had bought some Noro Silk Garden 4 ply yarn – and I decided to make a shawl using that.  This shade is number 389 and I used just over 3 balls.

I found an easy pattern called a Seafoam Shawl in the latest Knit Now magazine (issue 69). The pattern was designed by Katie Martin as part of The Challenge feature of the magazine.  The designers are challenged to design something using 100g of yarn.  You are supposed to use a ball of West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4 ply yarn which is 400 metres long. I had to use more Noro Silk Garden 4 ply in terms of weight because each ball is only 150 metres long.  This means that 3 balls should have been enough – but I expect my tension was a bit suspect.  I didn’t check it – it doesn’t really matter in this case.

As I knitted the shawl – it curled up – and now even after I have blocked it – it does not stay flat – but I am really pleased with it.  The pattern was easy to follow and only contained one minor mistake. It said you needed 28 stitch markers whereas you need 29 – but I used odd bits of yarn because I only have about 8 actual stitch markers – so it was no problem to cut another one.

When I was thinking about what to write about this year – I thought I would have a look at the different knitting magazines which are currently available in the UK.  Knit Now is a magazine that I have bought a few times recently.

I might have bought it more often but it tends to have free gifts in bags around the magazine – so you can’t look at it or even properly look at the cover.  I hate free gifts!  I never know what to do with them and if I give them to someone else – I have probably left the associated pattern in the magazine.  Knit Now is better in this respect – there is a free gift but the pattern is separate and I have taped the two together – ready to give them to charity.

Knit Now does seem to be an interesting magazine with a cross-section of patterns.  If I had unlimited time - I would knit some more of them.  As well as the patterns which seem to follow a theme - there are interesting articles, the usual yarn analysis and news.  The main distinctive features are – the promotion of local yarn stores and the range of sizes included in the patterns.  I will be buying it next month.