The calendar might say it's spring, but it's downright chilly in the mornings! The kids returned to school on Monday, after their 2 week "Spring Break", but I still send our daughter to school in her winter coat. (It's usually stuffed in her backpack by the time I pick her up at 3pm.)
Unfortunately, the anticipation of warmer weather means that no one is looking to buy my cold weather, hand-knit goodies. My Etsy shop traffic has be reduced to 1-2 people a day if I'm lucky, my Facebook page has lost 12 followers (although I gained 2 new ones) and I still have leftover stock, even after I discounted everything at the beginning of March. My little hobby, turned business, is clearly a seasonal thing.......Or IS it?
When people think of knitting, they generally think about cozy scarves, chunky knit hats or itchy wool sweaters. For the last couple of years, I stopped knitting around this time because the holiday rush was over. The reality is that there is a whole other side to knitting that I really haven't explored yet. For every "winter" yarn, there is a "spring/summer" weight yarn. I'm so used to knitting with wool, or wool blends but I've never looked into options like cotton (except for dishcloths) and linen.
Spring doesn't have to mean the end of knitting. In fact, it's a good time to start stocking up on winter items (I'm considering doing craft fairs this year EEK!) and trying new things. I've been browsing my favourite websites for ideas and I've come across an awesome knit kit from Knit Picks. The kits have everything you need, from cast on to bind-off. Needles, yarn and pattern in a neat little box. It makes it so easy!
The "Beachcomber" Boxed Pattern Kit interests me because, well, we're beachcombers! Since we've moved to Vancouver Island, we spend a lot of time on the beach, picking up sea glass, climbing rocks and watching sea lions eat their lunches. This would be perfect for those times I go to the beach in just a t-shirt and then complain it's too cold.
(If you're interested in purchasing JUST the pattern for the "Beachcomber Shawl" you can do that here.)
This is the finished product as seen on Knit Picks, but the box kit comes with the grey, yellow and black combination which I prefer anyway.
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