Boo 2018: Cloverfield and Dragonfly Wings

When Autumn rolled around I realised that I had been falling a little behind on my Boo Knits Challenge items and I did begin to worry that I might not complete all 11 items.  I decided to take a look at my to do list to see if I could swap out some quicker to knit items.  At that point I was mainly looking at lace weight beaded shawls and in all honesty that wasn't going to happen.  Then I remembered Cloverfield, a Boo cowl pattern!  I'd been on the fence about it because I wasn't entirely sure about the bobbly bits but I decided it would make a lovely gift even if I didn't love it.

I actually really liked the pink version on the pattern page so I chose a very similar shade to knit mone from.  I used DROPS Nord held double as I've used it before as a substitute for aran weight and was pleased with the results.  Knitting this pattern was a fairly simple affair but I will admit that I did not enjoy knitting the bobbles one single bit.  They only account for 6 rows of the pattern and the rest is a breeze so it wasn't a total deal breaker, but boy those rows felt like they took an eternity.

Luckily I really like the finished item, it's cosy and a bit different to anything else I have.  I'm not sure if I'd knit it again but I'm glad I made this one.

The quickest shawl I made last year was Dragonfly Wings, so I decided to bang out another one of those this year.  It's a very simple pattern that results in a long shallow shawl and is a great option for a last minute Christmas gift. 

I used some Fyberspates sparkle sock that was sent to me by a lovely Ravelry friend and was waiting for a special project to come along.  The silver sparkles in this yarn add a lovely christmassy vibe to the deep green and blues.  I have some left so I may have to make something sparkly for me too.

I enjoy knitting this pattern, it's half simple stockinette with occasional purl bump rows and half very simple beaded lace and it results in a shawl which is a very different shape to those I normally knit.  It's also a nice pattern to showcase a somewhat variegated yarn.  The one I made last year made use of some Tosh Sock that had also been sent to me and I was really pleased with how that one turned out too.

Even though these projects were picked to be quick I'm still really glad to have made them and I'm proud of the end results.  The shawls that I was going to make have been postponed until next year when I will be able to take my time and enjoy knitting them, which really is the whole point of knitting them at all!