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  • Summer's Blossom

    May 19, 2018 2 min read 0 Comments

    Summer's Blossom
    We have just added a new pattern to the shop, Mandarine's Blossom. This is a super pretty semi-circle shawl that combines three wonderful elements; garter stitch, stripes and slipped stitches.

     

    Mandarine's Blossom
    Blossom | Melody Hoffman | © mandarine's

     

    Blossom was a collaboration designer Melody Hoffman aka Mandarine's worked on last year with Gregoria Fibres and Isla Yarns. Sadly the yarn that was originally used Tussah Silk & Dorset Lambswool isn't readily available, we thought Blossom would work up a treat in SweetGeorgia Tough Love Sock.

     

    Blossom knit in Tough Love Sock
     Blossom knit in SweetGeorgia Tough Love Sock in Apricot & Gelato

     

    P R O J E C T    N O T E S

    We loved the subtle colour combination that Melody used in her sample and wanted to mirror these colours in our shawl so opted for Apricot and Gelato in Tough Love Sock from SweetGeorgia Yarns. 

    The pattern calls for a gauge of 21 stitches and 39 rows over 10cm in garter stitch, we had to go up a needle size from 3.75mm to 4mm to get closer to this, our blocked swatch was 21 stitches by 43 rows. 

     

    Scalloped Edge of Blossom
     we love the slip stitches along the border edge

     

    The shawl is worked from the scalloped edge, so there are quite a few stitches to cast on, the method suggested by the pattern is the long-tail cast on. This cast on can be difficult to judge just how much yarn you'll need but there are ways around this; check out Cat Bordhi's Precise Cast on Tail Length or the Long Tail Cast on Without Estimating Tail Length by Cocoknits

    The two colours are each worked for two rows creating wonderful garter stitch stripes, and as the shape of the shawl unfolds the rows get shorter. The last couple of rows were knit on a 3.75mm needle to give a neater cast-off.

    Our shawl was then soaked and gently blocked so not to overstretch and spoil the garter stitch, we just used a few t-pins along the straight edge and allowed our shawl to dry naturally. 

     

    Blossom | Melody Hoffman | Tough Love Sock
    our finished shawl measures 115cm wide by 45cm

    Should you fancy casting Blossom on you'll need two skeins of Tough Love Sock, choose two colours that compliment one another a semi-solid and a speckled yarn like we did or for a bolder look pick two that contrast.

     

    SweetGeorgia Tough Love Sock - top left clockwise, strawberry tea/birch, lilac/acai, sapphire/tooth fairy, london fog/anthem, birch/fauna, seedling/mint julep

     

    We'd love to see your finished shawls, so do share on Instagram using hashtags #blossomshawl #mandarinesdesigns and #tangledyarnuk

    If you love Melody Hoffman's patterns as much as we do then you might like to read our interview with this very talented designer - Chatting with Melody Hoffman.