The season of colour coming up

My favourite season is getting closer day by day and finding red and yellow leaves feels more exciting and inspirational than looking for the first signs of spring.
Colour is usually the starting point of new projects and choosing which ones to use, the most fun part. When in need of theoretical help, interactive colour wheels are very useful for visualising different colour combinations. And you can always rely on the result.
This Color Scheme Designer is what I prefer. Although intended for web design, colours are still colours:




And here is a small reminder of colours for this autumn suggested by Pantone. Just lovely.

Fall for Blues cowl pattern

Thin cables running across the soft textured surface keep this cowl comfortably around neck, while its height is enough to cover one's head and ears in cold winds.
The cowl is easy to knit and finish, it is worked in the round on circular needles as one piece.

The cowl requires four 50 g balls of DK weight yarn, but naturally, it can be worked in lighter and heavier yarn weights just as well.

The pattern is available on Ravelry.







The sample is knitted in Schachenmayr Nomotta's Extra Merino, shade no. 56. Because of its loose twist, needles sometimes get lost between the threads, but that also makes the yarn so wonderfully soft and fluffy. It is also a very convenient centre-pull ball.

Haapsalu Shawl Day

The picturesque town of Haapsalu celebrated the annual lace knitting day yesterday: woolwhite lacework was to be spotted everywhere, both in finished and work-in-progress status. The seaside resort atmosphere was something well worth envying as always.

The lace knitting contest was not too crowded with its fourteen participants:




Some people just knitted on the street without competing:




Shawl dance presented by a classy local dance group:








And some other highlights of the program:






Shawls and other lacy items made by the local master knitters were also sold at the craft fair. And for a shocking price of 50 Euros - unfortunately, this is what people who value handmade can afford here. (The price for being an economically well-behaving country.) Well, start planning your lace shopping trip for next August!






This is the window of the Dome Church chapel, where the White Lady appears on full moon August nights (she must be hiding in there by day as well):




By the end of the day, all this motivation overdose resulted in a midnight swatch with Karukellakiri pattern. This project cannot be postponed any longer and as soon as I'm done with the hardest part - choosing a stitch pattern - my first Haapalu shawl will be cast on.




There is also a sweet short film about knitting in Haapsalu in 1937 available in the Estonian Film Archives: