Stitch Nation Sidewalk Shawl

Last month, I did a round-up of my favorite shawl and wrap patterns. After I posted it, I was itchy to make the Sidewalk Shawl.

I'm nuts about all the new Stitch Nation Yarn patterns. They are all lovely, but I really love shawls in the fall and winter. In fall, I can wear them in place of a jacket. In winter, I can bunch it up like a scarf on my walk to work and then wear it around the office. (One thing I recently discovered I can't do: wear the shawl as usual and layer my coat on top of it. I looked like a bloated snowman. Coincidentally, this was after a night when I'd eaten a large amount of broccoli and already felt pretty bloated.)

I chose the Mermaid color in Bamboo Ewe, which looks really pretty with gray, dark purple, and black. It worked up quickly, and I skipped the fringe. You just don't know what could happen with fringe. You could get it stuck in a subway door. You could get tangled in it. You could choke. Fringe is very unpredictable.

The gorgeous pineapple pattern:

Have you made any of the other Stitch Nation patterns? I'm dying to do another one, but I can't choose just one!

Monkey Boy Birthday Place Mats

Earlier this year, a customer on Etsy contacted me to make custom place mats for a monkey-themed birthday party in November. I had almost forgotten about the party until I opened my Etsy messages to find a photo of the place mats from the party!

Photo by Silvia Enders

I love making these, but I really love seeing people use them for fun things like birthday parties! I especially loved the party favors tucked into the utensil holders.

If you're looking for place mats for the holidays or birthday parties, I have a few sets in my Etsy store, including some pretty polka dot sets!