Spring has definitely sprung around Yorkshire. The crocuses have been and gone and the daffodils are now in flower. The hills all around are changing from brown to a light green and there is definitely some warmth behind the sun. Even my Nan's orchid is gracing me with its beautiful flower.
As spring arrives my knitting likes to move to lighter weight accessories from the cozy winter woollies. Rhien, from my An Elven Reckoning book, is my favourite shawl to knit in warmer weather. The lace weight shawl is light enough to feel summery and yet it is warm enough to wrap around me as a shawl or scarf on colder days and a pretty wrap to cover my arms on warm evenings.
It is also a great project to travel with. The garter stitch and simple repeating lace pattern becomes easy to remember and it only needs one skein of lace weight so is light and portable.
I used Garthenor Organic Pure Wool Shetland Single Ply Laceweight yarn to knit this sample with and it was a lovely yarn to work with. The Shetland wool shows off the Shetland lace pattern beautifully and I love the natural colour. It would work well in colourful solid or semi-solid lace weight yarns too.
The pattern uses a percentage system to work the increase and decrease sections so all the skein can be used. Lace weight yarns are so beautiful it seems a shame to leave some unknitted!
The name Rhien means a crowned lady or Queen in Elvish. This shawl was inspired by my Nan Queenie, who was often called 'Queen' for short. She always wore a shawl no matter how warm the weather to keep her neck warm. I think she would have loved this one with its elegant lace pattern and curve.
To celebrate the arrival of spring and shawl-wearing weather I have released Rhien as an individual pattern for download and it has 15% off the regular price for this week only. No coupon code is needed, the discount will automatically be applied on checkout. Don't forget to sign up to my newsletter here if you want an even bigger discount!
I hope you are able to enjoy some spring weather and flowers too. What are your favourite things to knit in warmer weather?
Happy knitting,
Sarah x