it's here, it's here!

My Craftsy class (25% off through this link!) went live and I am super excited to be able to show you the shawl that I teach in the class! 

It was so difficult waiting to show you this shawl. It's a combination of two of my designs: Madroña for the shape, and Fiori di Sole for the body and edging stitch patterns. The V shaped Madroña is the shawl so many people ask me about teaching, and I know how much people love Fiori too, so I wanted to put something together that I knew you all would love! This one is called Fiori Autunnali and you can see more pics of it on Ravelry. It's made of Miss Babs' Wild Silk (tussah) and size 6/0 seed beads. There's a regular sized shawl

and also a doll sized shawl

which also works wonderfully as a human sized scarf!

I do hope you'll join me. :)

Here's my official verbiage for promotion:

Expand Your Lace Skills with a New Shawl Shape

Empower yourself as you bring a sophisticated and versatile shawl design to life. Join me, Romi Hill, for my online Craftsy class, New Directions in Lace, and create a breathtaking V-shaped shawl that will stop people in the streets! I've designed this class with you in mind, drawing on questions knitters have asked me about this particular shawl shape, lace weight yarns, beads, casting on in the round, blocking lace, and so many other little tips and tricks that you'll find yourself going back to the lessons over and over.

As you progress through my class, you’ll hone your lace skills be creating my exclusive Fiori Autunnali shawl pattern, included in the class materials. Inspired by delicate lace doilies, this lovely shawl features leaf patterns and beaded flower motifs. And if you like, you can start small with the doll-sized version of the shawl which is also included in the materials and shown in class.

As we begin, I’ll help you choose yarn and beads. I share tips for reading charts, using stitch markers, and adding lifelines. I’ll even guide you through starting your shawl with my version of the ingenious belly button cast on, developed by my friend Rosemarie Buchanan. The belly button allows you to start a project from the center with a minimum of fiddling, even when using lace weight yarn! Next, we’ll move on to join the working yarn to your cast on, and you’ll begin stitching. I'll show you how to remove your belly button, and easily close up the center into a neat and tidy start for your lovely project.

We'll go on to cover working charts in the round, three ways to place beads as you knit, and the no stitch symbol as used in my charts, and we’ll transition from working in the round to binding off two sections of the shawl so you can start working the two wings! And for the hook-a-phobic, I'll show you my favorite method of crocheting a chain bind off using knitting needles! The magic of blocking is next. We'll turn your project into a beautiful swan! I’ll take you step-by-step through blocking your shawl to its full size, exposing and preserving its true beauty and marvelous motifs. When you sign up for New Directions in Lace, you'll hone your skills while knitting an entrancing shawl that’s a wearable work of art.

Since 2005, I’ve been designing knitting patterns and shawl pins. But my fascination with lace dates back to my early childhood, and the incredible pieces my grandmother crocheted using a tiny hook and miniscule thread. When I was about four years old, my grandmother taught me crochet, but it was the art of knitting that always called to me.

After begging my mother to teach me how to knit for years, she finally relented when I was nine years old. I knit on and off throughout my entire life, and then the awe that my grandmother’s lace creations had inspired was reawakened, and I haven't stopped once since learning to knit lace. These days, I usually fall asleep at night thinking of lace patterns and how they fit together mathematically and artistically. I'm such a lace geek!

I hope you’ll join me for my new Craftsy class! Sign up for New Directions in Lace to create my exclusive Fiori Autunnali shawl design, and then apply what you’ve learned to knit other complex, captivating shawls.