SparkleShan

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 ...

A few months ago I decided to open a new Etsy shop.  Some of you may know that I used to sell handspun yarn on Etsy a few years back.  Due to life I closed the shop a few years back and haven't really been spinning yarn much.  Well I am still ever crafting and knitting.  I decided to open shop again because I really like sharing my creations with other people.  It's really satisfying to know that someone enjoys the things that I make with my hands and with my heart :) My new Etsy shop is called SparkleShan Knits. I am selling hand made baby, child and adult headbands, hand made jewelry and hand knit accessories.  I am also taking custom order requests.  I am trying to add items to my shop frequently so keep checking back for new hand made items.  If you would like to request a custom order you can message me directly on Etsy or email me at sparkleshanknits@gmail.com

It's been a while since I did a knitting work in progress Wednesday and boy do I have a few things in progress. I'm still slowly and hear and there plugging away on the Boxy Sweater that I started in October. I still have another 9 inches of stockinette stitch before I even start the arms. And did I mention its in fingering weight yarn?? I am also knitting a second Terrafrom shawl with sparkle sock yarn that I dyed myself. I am going to add a second skein of some sparkle sock yarn that I also dyed myself, that is a little bit light then the current skein to make it longer and give it a cool ombre effect. My little sister is having a baby girl at the end of August so I am crocheting her a blanket. I am using some Cotton ease yarn that I have had for about 5 years, since they live in Virginia and the baby is being born in the summer I wanted to make a light weight blanket she can use right away. I also started a Bias Wrap in the left over Handmaiden mini maiden s...

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 .        

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!!

I added several new hand knit items to my Etsy Shop today. They were all hand knit by me using hand spun yarn from my friends or yarn that I spun myself. Here is a preview of what I added. And don't forget my 20% off sale is still going on!! Use coupon code 'KIDNEY' at check out (club listings excluded).

I am trying to get back in the swing of things to contribute to Phatfiber sample boxes on a regular basis. I was able to get 59 Samples of stitch markers, hand spun yarn and my first hand pulled roving fiber in to the May box. I am not sure if I will have time to contribute to the June box or not, but there are special ideas in the works for the July Box! Here are the samples of fiber that I sent in for May. They can also now be purchased in my Etsy Shop, Princess Emma's . I blended different fibers including: merino, mulberry silk, bamboo, angora, mohair, mohair locks, angora mohair locks and firestar on my homemade fiber hackled. I then Pulled the fiber into mini roving buns using a diz to get this super luxe, chunky, funky fibers. I am really please how they turned out and I hope people enjoy them! I just need to find the time to make more now!

I finally got some spinning done with weekend. It was a month and a half since the last time I spun anything. I didn't have time between the holidays and moving. First I spun this 2 ply of Camel down and Mulberry silk. Then I spun two holiday inspired batts that I got from Bohoknitterchic . This came out to about 100 years, I love the colors.

From now until January 31st, I will be donating 50% of sales in my Etsy Shop, Princess Emma's , to Doctors without Borders . This includes all handspun yarn, jewelry, stitch markers and Magnets. Please help in anyway you can.

So since I am not good at keeping on a my blogs as I go along. I am about to post a few yearns that I have spun over the past few months. Hopefully once I move and get all settled in I can start posting more regularly!

My latest art yarn was spun from a batt from Uniquely Yours (I just love her stuff so much!) called Seaside Escape. It contains Merino, Silk Noil, Firestar, Nepps and Angelina. I spun the batt into a thick and thing single and then I plied it with clear nylon thread to create the coil effect. I really wanted to use a clear thread for this effect so that I could preserve the wonderful colors in the batt. Here is a before and after picture. The finished yarn is 35 yards, 2.4 ounces and super bulky. This will be on sale at my Etsy Store within the next few days.

I was introduced to another wonderful Etsy Fiber artist by a fellow Ravelry. Here name is Jenna and she has a store on Etsy called Uniquely Yours Designs where she sells Fiber Batts, Hand dyed Roving and Hand spun yarn. I feel in love with her Batts, they have such wonderful colors and sparkle. I got 3 batts of fiber in the mail from her the other day and I spun up the first one a few nights ago. Here are the 3 Batts that I received from Jenna. Here is the orange batt (contains merino, Angelina and firestar) spun up. First I spun up the batt into a thick and thin single and then I plied it with peach crochet cotton and coils in the yarn throughout. It came out to 43 yards super bulky.

The Spindlers group on Ravelry has a spin along every month and every month they have a different theme. You then Post pictures of your finished skein in that months thread and a random winner is drawn each month. February was the first month I participated in the Spin A long and the theme was Mardi Gras. So I decided to spin up a Batt from Butterfly Girl Designs that was red and purple bamboo, black merino and firestar and Angelina. I thought it fit the theme pretty well. I called the finished skein 'Ruby Tuesday' The March theme was Romance and of course I immediately though of pinks. This is inspired by pink roses and is the first 3 ply yarn I have ever spun. I spun thin singles of Soy silk, super wash merino and merino & Angelina. Then I plied the three together and came out with this wonderfully girl yarn and I have to add that it is super soft! I just wish that I had more of the soy silk so that I could make more length!

I made my first Handspun Yarn Sale on Etsy this morning! I am super excited. I had just finished spinning the yarn two days ago, put it up on my store yesterday and I didn't even have a change to blog about it yet! So here it is This yarn is called Cloisonne and is Spun from a Butterfly Girl Designs Batt. The white is Blue Faced Lester with Kid Mohair in Pink, blue, purple and yellow and gold Angelina through out it. It is thick and thin but mostly super bulky. I love how it came out and ordered another Batt so I can spin some up for myself. Below is another Yarn that I spun up from a Batt From Appalachian Voodoo Fibers . I call this yarn Everything and the Kitchen Sink because it literally contains almost every type of fiber you can imagine in all different colors. It contains the following: Alpaca, Yak, Merino, Bamboo, Punta, Firestar, Icicle, Angelina, Glitz, Corriedale, Silk, Tussah Silk, Shredded Sari Silk, Silk Noils, Lincoln, Lincoln Locks, Tinsel and Yarn Bits.

Some of you probably aren't aware but there is a company, Phat Fiber , that puts together boxes of samples from indie fiber artists and then they sell the boxes with about 20 or more samples from all these different businesses. I heard about this on Ravelry and decided that I would like to contribute and it would be a great way to get my business out to more people. So for the past two weeks I have been spinning up samples like crazy and making stitch markers as well. I have already posted some photos of the yarn. But here is a better snapshot of what I have sent in. The theme for March's Box is Celtic so I tired to do some green and Celtic inspired yarns and stitch markers. Here are some examples of the stitch markers I made using Swarvoski Crystals and Celtic Trinity Knot Charms. Here is a close up of a yarn sample for the Phat Fiber Box, that I spun from a Shunklies Roving of 70% Merino and 30% Tussah Silk. And I just found out that the deadline to have samples in is March ...

The past two two weeks I was spinning up smaller samples of yarn to send to Phat Fiber as a contribution for the March Box. The theme is Celtic so I tired to do a few green Irish inspired yarns. Here are a few samples that I plan to spin into larger skeins and offer in my Etsy store. The first I got some off white colored Correidale and spun it with some gold and green firestar. Then I plied it with white crochet cotton to make a bubbly yarn. This is Pot O' Gold it is also correidale with green and gold firestar, but I didn't ply it. This next yarn I call Jelly Belly, its spun from a Batt of White Punta Wool and Shredded Sari silk from Appalachian Voodoo Fibers . I love how if came out. >