Aoibhe Ni – Crochet Shawls

Homeward Bound is a Tunisian Crochet shawl worked on a regular-length hook, and crocheted from side to side.

The pattern itself can be purchased here,

And a helpful collection of How To Videos are featured below:

Part 1: Wherein I explain the beginnign of, and the basic Short Rows used in the charted sections of the pattern. (This section of the pattern is also written in long hand on Page 3 of the pattern)

Part 2: Wherein I work you through the eyelet featured in Chart A2 of the pattern, as seeon on Page 13 of the pdf.

Part 3: Wherein I explain how to read Charts C and E, and parts of Charts E and F. The eyelets I create in this video are used for the majority of the lace patterns in Homeward Bound.

Part 4: Wherein I show you how to reverse the eyelets made in Part 3. This reverse version is easy to do, and features in both Charts D and F.

Part 5: Wherein I explore the technique used to mirror the short rows in Chart B.


Coming Soon:

Part 6: By request! How to finish off the panels in Homeward Bound, as described in the pattern.

Aoibhe Ni Cal 2020 Rules Page
Aoibhe Ni CAL 2020 Ravelry Topic
Patterns
Instagram
IGTV Videos

Happy New Year, everyone!
And welcome to the Aoibhe Ni 2020 CAL Rules page!

Here’r the rules, folks:

1. Post your Aoibhe Ni pattern progress on Instagram each week to be entered into that week’s prize draw. Multiple posts are welcome. The more you post the more chances you have to win! All participating projects MUST be an Aoibhe Ni pattern.

2. Each Instagram post MUST include both the hashtag #AoibheNi
AND that week’s dedicated hashtag:
The (bracketed) suggestions under each week are offered for inspiration. You don’t have to stick to them, of course.

Week 1. #AoibheNiWeek1
(Show Us Your Yarn and Pattern choice)

Week 2. #AoibheNiWeek2
(Show Us Your Swatch, or the beginning of your project if you like to live dangerously!)

Week 3. #AoibheNiWeek3
(A photo of your hands out and about crocheting on the bus, at the library, at the kid’s swimming lesson, under a tree… wherever you happen to be!)

Week 4. #AoibheNiWeek4
(Video time! Treat us to a few seconds of your gorgeous, talented hands crocheting away. I bet we all hold our hooks a little differently. How cool would it be to see how everyone else crochets!)

Week 5. #AoibheNiWeek5
(Have you made any modifications? Here’s the week to show us what you’ve changed.)

Week 6. #AoibheNiWeek6
(The Finale! Your completed shawl blocking, or modelled. There are no bonus points for using a dog to model your shawl, but that would make me very happy!)

Not including the weekly hashtag will mean your post won’t be part of the random number generator’s count come prize time and you will miss out on your chance to win a prize that week.

3. Week One begins on Monday the 6^th of January 2020, and each week thereafter will begin the Monday following.
The first prize winner will be chosen and announced at 12 noon, Irish Time on Saturday the 11^th of January 2020, and each winner thereafter will be announced the Saturday following.

4. Aoibhe Ni will tag each week’s winner in an announcement post in her Instagram grid. This is the winner’s cue to message Aoibhe on Instagram with their Name, email address and their preferred postal address.

5. The Aoibhe Ni 2020 CAL will run from Monday the 6^th of January 2020 to Saturday the 14^th of February, with the final prize being announced on Saturday the 14^th of February 2020.

6. Be nice!

And this isn’t a rule, but I encourage you to look at other participants posts, and to like, comment and encourage them along with comments and love! Let’s make this a fun and fulfilling time for everyone involved!

Additionally, any questions or comments can be directed here:
I’ll endeavour during the duration of the CAL, to pop in every day or two to help anyone who might be stuck.

Thank you so much for your purchase!
Please allow time for delivery from Ireland.

All orders recieved Mon – Fri will be posted off the next working day.
Irish post takes about a working day or two from time of postage.
International post take at least 7 working days.

https://www.instagram.com/aoibheni/

It seems that shawl pin is proving popular right now!

If you’d like to choose a different one, please click here

For years I have oooh and aaah at the skill and craftsmanshop it takes to hand dyed a skein of yarn in a way that’s pleasing.

I tried it myself some time ago – both with blank hanks of yarn and roving, natural, food-colouring & acid dyes – and I have to say that my respect for the dying process, and the level of knowledge you need to get a good result, is high.

I’ve often, and at some volume, admit to being a dunce when it comes to colour theory.
I cannot match colours up well. There’s a reason I’m almost always in black. Black goes with everything. It does the job I can’t. It’s just not in my make-up to do a good job, so when I find a dyer who can do just that it feels as if I’m in the presence of an elemental god of some kind.

HOW did they know that lime green and that teal would blend so prettily?
HOW did they get that yarn to look exactly like a rusty nail, or a peacok’s tail feather, or a misty rainy day in March?!

So, getting to chat to a dyer and get down and dirty with their dye pots is always a pleasure. This is exactly what I did when I got to chat to Eve Chambers last year at Woollinn.
I used her delicious yarn for my most recent pattern: Manannan.

Here’s how she describes her process:

“I dye a lot of semi solids. In crochet, the stitch definition is vital. I found that commercially dyed yarns lacked a fluidity when I worked with them. A solid was flat. A gradient’s colour shifts took over the story of the stitches.

I was raised by an artist mother, and the alchemy of primary colour work that she used always fascinated me.

In dyeing my semi solids, especially the Pop range – I’m going back to the alchemy. The singles are dry. The semi immersion bath is ready and heat slowly rising. The skeins are added to the bath, and slowly sink beneath the surface as they soak up the bath. It’s a slow process, but by controlling the heat level, the dye strikes with a specific non uniformity on the skein, but with uniformity across the batch. Like all handdyed, there can be variations across batches, however the end effect of the Pop Collection is a watered silk look.

When you knit/crochet with Pops, you can see ripples of colour density, thus lifting or setting back your stitches, but always looking like light is moving in waves over your work.”

It’s safe to say, there’s a LOT more to it than “dying and drying”, as Gamercrafting explains in her latest YouTube Podcast.

Check out both Gamercrafting and Eve Chambers, folks! I love them both, and you will too.