SparkleShan

Check out the  #frequencycowl  that I test knit for one of my oldest Ravelry/knitting friends  @voxless . The pattern is available to purchase on  R avelry It uses two colors of DK weight yarn. For more details my test knit go check out my project page on Ravelry. Yarns:  M adelinetosh   Tosh DK color Graphite &  @fleeceartist_handmaiden Woolie Silk 3 ply color Periwinkle purchased from  Colorsong Yarn

Last week I did not post a Work in Progress because I was still only working on my Boxy Sweater that I posted the week prior, so I thought that would be boring to post about again since I haven't really made any new progress on it. This week I continue to work on my Boxy Sweater and I am actually at the point now where I separated for sleeves, the end is in sight! I also decided to work on a shawl that I started months ago that was written by my dear friend Brittany Wilson, the Rise and Fall Shawl. You can get the pattern on Ravelry! This shawl calls for two colors of fingering weight yarn and I am using hand dyed yarn from Brittany (BohoknitterchicSpins) and hand dyed yarn from Sunrise Fiber Co. You can find both shops on www.Etsy.com I still have a ways to go on the shawl, but I really love the colors on the yarn and I want to wear this soon.

This week I decided I wanted to work on my Boxy Sweater, that I literally started 3 years ago. It has been hibernating on and off in those 3 years (more off then on). It is knit with fingering weight and it is over sized, lots of stockinette stitch so it gets pretty boring. But I am buckling down and working on it because I really want to wear it this winter. It has been far to long in the making.

I finished my first pair of socks that I blogged about last week! I am so excited to add more knit socks to my small collection. They fit great and I am pretty pleased with how they came out. The only thing was that I did get small ladders from using the DPNs. Eventually I will trying knitting socks on two circular needles, as I have been told that helps to eliminate the ladders. But these are just for me and I can live with them. My feet are really tiny so it took me only about 8 days to knit the pair. I have already began plotting and planning more socks. Luckily Ravelry.com has a ton of patterns to choose from and I have about 50 skeins of sock yarn. Here are my first ever pair of knitted socks. Yay!

I have finished a few knitting projects since March that I will now share with you. I finally got my hands on a skein of Madeline tosh holi festival in DK Weight and I knit the Latu Hat with it. This colorway is so much fun and I have been trying to find it for a while. I took a trip to Knit New Haven (which is an hour drive from me) on the hunt for another yarn and they happened to have this one too, so of course it had to come home with me. I also finished my second Ishbel Shawl. This was only the second shawl I ever knit 5 years ago and it took me about a month and a half to finish. This time it only took me about two weeks to finish it. My cousin had twin girls in March and I had to knit them something using this awesome hand dyed Unicorn Poop Yarn from Sunrise Fiber Co. So I knit two Tiny Trees Baby Vests. I knit another pattern for the second time, the Hitchhiker Shawl using some awesomely bright hand dyed yarn from Atomic Blue. Last time I knit thi...

This week I cast on for a Craft-a-long being hosted in Colorsong's Ravelry group.  I am using Fleece Artist Trail Socks in the color Passion flower to knit an Ishbel Shawl by Ysolda Teague.  I knit this pattern 3 or 4 years ago and I love it and have been wanting to knit it again. I bought this yarn for a shawl (I didn't have a particular one in mind) from Colorsong yarns, so I thought it would be perfect to use for this along and pattern.     I finished working on the Magine Shawl by Ambah O'Brien and it is now blocking. I couldn't wait until it was dry to get a picture.  I really love how colorful this shawl is, thanks to the awesome Knit Circus gradient yarns.     Knitting all these shawls is really inspiring me to come up with some shawl designs. So I am working on a swatch sample for a design I have in my head for a three colored shawl. I knit the sample using some Sunrise Fiber Co mini skeins that I bought 4 years...

Here is another free knitting pattern that I designed to show off that sparkly sock yarn we all love so much.  It was my second Shawl design ever and I am sharing it for free with you here :)  I would love for you to knit my shawl and share it on Ravelry by linking to the pattern page.  Thank you and happy knitting. Aurora Sparkle Shawl By Shannon O’Neil MATERIALS Needles: 1 US #7/4.5 mm 24” circular needles Notions: - Tapestry needle - 1 stitch marker Yarn: Craftypuppylover handdyed Fingering Weight Yarn. 438 yards, 3.5oz GAUGE   23sts/35 rows = 4" in stockinette stitch before blocking. Gaugeis not super important so don’t worry if yourgauge is a little off this                                   PATTERN Set-up: CO 3 STS Row 1 (RS):   *k1,m1, rep. from * to last st, k1. (5 ...

I wrote this cowl pattern a few years ago. It is one of first knitting patterns I ever designed.  Enjoy and feel free to link to the pattern page on Ravelry if you decide to knit this pattern! Reverse Seed Stitch Cowl By Shannon O’Neil MATERIALS Needles: US #7/4.5 mm 24” circular needles Notions: - Tapestry needle - 1 stitch marker Yarn: Fleece Artist Blue FacedLeicester DK Weight Yarn. 250 yards GAUGE 7 sts / 9 rows = 4" instockinette stitch before blocking. PATTERN Set-up: CO 131 STS using thelong-tail cast on. Join in the round beingcareful to not twist the sts. PM Knit for 4 rounds Round 1:   *p1,k1*, rep. from * to last st, p1. Round 2:   * k1, knit next st in the row below*, rep.until 1 st left, k1. Round 3: *k1, p1*, rep.until 1 st left, k1. Round 4: *knit next st inthe row below, k1* rep. until 1 st left, k1. Repeat these four roundsuntil piece measures 6 inches, knit 4 rounds and Bind off sts loosely with yourfavorite stretchy bind off method. Finishing...

I recently published a new knitting pattern on Ravelry, the Berry Cowl. If you knit this cowl please create a project page for it on Ravelry  so that I can see all your wonderful Cowls knit up. Berry Cowl by Shannon O'Neil MATERIALS Needles: 1 US #7 / 4.5mm 16" circular Notions: -1 stitch marker -Tapestry Needle Yarn: Fleece Artist Peter Rabbit [70% angora, 20% nylon, 10% wool; 273 yds/250m per 50g skein]; 1 skein GAUGE 22 sts = 4" in stockinette stitch SIZE One Size                                 The pattern and photographs contained in this document are the property of Shannon O’Neil . This pattern is available for personal use only. No unauthorized reproduction, in whole or in part, or distribution of this pattern or content is allowed, Copyright © 2016 Shannon O’Neil ...

Wow I didn't realize how long it's been since I last updated this blog. A lot of has been going on in life. I'm getting ready to retire from the Army in a few short weeks. And then I will be doing nothing until I start cosmetology school in the middle of July. I will being going to Paul Mitchell School in North Haven for the next 11 months full time. I also started two college classes online 3 weeks ago just for fun and for something to do when I'm bored and not working. I'm taking a Buddhism class (I'm Buddhist so it's fun and I know most of the stuff) and a Hinduism class. It's weird for the first time I have my homework done early and am not waiting until the last minute before it's due.  I have finished a few knitting projects since I last posted. Most recently was a second Frisson shawl designed by an awesome designer and friend Brittany Wilson. I knit it in a yummy silk blend yarn by Handmaiden Yarns called mini maiden. You can download t...

This year I competed in the Ravelry Ravellenic  games that coincide with the 2014 Winter Olympics. This is the first time I actually finished projects before the games ended. And I finished 6 on top of that! For the work in progress category I finally finished my first garment that I started 3 years ago, Rusted Root sweater. I'm so happy to finally have finished it!  I also finished several slouchy hats for myself, Emma and one for my best friend too.   

I've been doing some holiday gift knitting recently and I am on a head band kick. They are perfect to keep your ears warm in the winter months. I even knit one for myself. The patterns were all easy and fast I found them on ravelry.com 

I counted the number of knitting projects that I have on the needles that aren't hibernating and I have 8! I have a bad case on chronic cast on! Luckily I finished one of those projects tonight, a headband to keep my ears warm.  I'm also working on a linen stitch scarf with scraps of sock yarn.  My first sweater, the Boxy. The Sastrugi Cowl designed by my friend Brittany Wilson in some yummy angora blend yarn. The Bee keepers quilt has been brought out of hibernation.  I'm also working on a test knit for a friend, designing a shawl and another head band and some wash cloths for Christmas gift.  I made a challenge for myself that I won't cast on any new projects until I finish two. Hopefully I can stick to it!

I made some knitting related ornaments for my knitting friends! Super cute idea I found on Ravelry. I got these clear glasses ball ornaments from Michael's and added some mini skeins of yarns and cut off the end of tooth picks to make mini knitting needles.

Yes you read that right. "Friends I'd like to meet". I belong to an online knitting community called Ravelry. Its a place where knitters, crocheters and other fiber artists can come together and share projects, advice, organize their yarn stash, find patterns, etc. I have been a member of the website since January of 2008. I have made many friends over the years on the website and I have had the pleasure of meeting several of they in person. But there are still a bunch of them that I want to meet in person. They are Savetheplanknit, Voxless and Muddymoose. I've know these ladies for years and love them to pieces and I hope soon I will get to have a meet up with them!

Last night I released a new knitting pattern that I designed last year. I designed a cowl to use hand spun yarn, but really any yarn can be used. There are directions for knitting the cowl in either fingering weight or DK weight yarn. This is only the second knitting pattern I have ever designed, but I am hoping to work on more designs this year. I am offering a free copy of the cowl pattern on Ravelry (http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/reverse-seed-stitch-cowl) until April 2nd, using coupon code 'newspring'. I would love to see more people knitting this pattern and please share them with me in my Ravelry group here .        

I soent the weekend spinning and knitting lots of new items for the shop. But I need to clear out some old stuff first so I am having a 15% off sale! Use coupon code 'NOVEMBER15' to receive 15% off your entire order (excluding club listings). The sale will end on November 15th at 8am EST so hurry and snag whats there! www.sparkleshan.etsy.com EtsyCouponCode - Your place to get Etsy Coupons before you Buy on Etsy.

It's snowing today and I don't feel like going out! What a perfect excuse to stay inside, cuddle up on the sofa and knit!!! I'm getting so addicted to knitting hexipuffs for the Beekeepers Quilt. I knit a total of 6 yesterday! That is the most I have knit in one day. Some of them were for me and some were for swaps I am in on Ravelry. I also received two of my swap packages already!! I now have 11 hexipuffs for my blanket. I received this package from studioloo (Cindy) in the Art Yarn Group Swap. Lots of lovely mini skeins hand dyed by Cindy too! Then I got my package from the Funonion Group handspun hexipuff swap. I got a puff in pink handspun from Upstreamalpacas. My favorite color so of course I love it!!

Today I unveiled some new products in my Etsy Shop . Hand made soap & Bath Salts!! I have been doing research of bath and body projects for years now and decided to finally give it ago. My first batch of soap has some air bubbles (I forgot to tap the mold) but other then that it came out great. I made two bars each of for different recipes: Lavender & Goats Milk; Goats Milk with dried apricots and mango's; Buttermilk, Goats Milk, Honey & Oatmeal and Buttermilk, Goats milk, Vanilla & Coffee. There are also Bath salts with essential oils. One bath salt is Lavender essential oil & dried lavender buds & the second is Pink Grapefruit. I have added a bow with my hand spun yarn to each bottle :) I also listed the first yarn I have spun since July!! It's a fun funky art yarn I spun with a batt from my friend Carrie of CraftyPuppyLover and I added some silk noil that was hand dyed by my friend Brittany of BohoKnitterChic Spins