As a hand weaver, I do not need much of an excuse to start a new shawl. There is a myriad of good reasons to weave a new shawl: trying out a new yarn, experimenting with a weaving technique, weaving the perfect shawl to accompany a new coat or weaving a shawl as a gift. In my latest project, all of these reasons applied: I used a novel yarn in a new weaving technique to make a shawl to go with my mothers new coat.

When I showed my five-year-old niece the shawls of the Stardust Collection, she said she liked them but they were far too big for her. So, I knew what I had to do: make a shawl for my niece of just the right size. Not too small, not too big but just right: like in the Goldilocks fairytale. Her mother and her two-year-old brother could use a new shawl as well, so I set ot to make three shawls in three different sizes.

In a woven fabric, the colors of warp and weft intimately interact with each other. Some color combinations show a clear contrast when they are interwoven, other color combinations blend together. This week, my mother gifted one of my handwoven shawls to a friend. The palette of green, blue and turquoise tints made for a lovely lively blend of colors.

We all can use a little luck sometimes. One of the universal symbols of luck is the four-leaf clover. Anyone who has ever tried to find a four-leaf specimen in a field of three-leaf ones knows it --- spotting a four-leaf clover requires quite some luck indeed. Luckily, you do not have to look for too long to spot a four-leaf clover in the blanket that I share with you today. The pattern contains a whole field of fortune-bringing clovers.

Last winter, I discovered I could make wonderfully light yet warm shawls with blow yarn. I switched to lighter yarns when spring came around. I picked up the blow yarn again now that autumn is here. Differently from last year, I now have an 8-shaft loom and experience with advancing twill and echo effects. In my new project with blow yarn, I made good use of these new tricks.