Prize winning Pax!

Please forgive the show-off title, but I am just a bit proud of winning first prize at the Royal ?easter Show this year with this scarf – my first entry in the crochet competition and my first full Tunisian piece. Woot!

I really wasn’t expecting to win, so it was a lovely lovey surprise to go to the Arts Preview Night and find a blue ribbon on it!

Details
Pattern: Pax by Aoibhe Ni. A free pattern, designed to introduce crocheters to the techniques and designs of Aoibhe Ni.

I’m not an experienced Tunisian crocheter at all, and from what I can gather, Aoibhe’s pattern writing style and techniques are slightly different to most other Tunisian designers. In any event, she has a loyal following on Ravelry and has designed some gorgeous patterns. And she also provides lots of helpful videos of her techniques, so if you’ve been thinking about Tunisian, or can crochet a bit and like the look of her patterns, give it a go, it is really not difficult at all! And this pattern is a great place to start. You start with a long piece of plain Tunisian simple stitch (with short rows, to give the crescent shape) and then crochet on the lace edging.

Yarn: I used a gorgeous ball of 100% cashmere fingering/4ply from Knitters Addiction (no longer in operation, sadly), a birthday gift from the lovely JP. The pattern calls for lace weight, but I thought fingering might be a bit easier on the hands and eyes for my first full Tunisian project! Oh my goodness this is the most lush yarn. So soft, and only gets softer with blocking. I wish I had more of it in my stash, just beautiful. I used about 90g/495m.

Hook: another good thing about Aoibhe’s patterns is that they use a regular crochet hook (the type with a straight handle, not a shaped one) so you don’t need a traditional long handled Tunisian hook. I used a 5.5mm Knitter’s Pride wooden interchangeable hook (so you can screw a cable on for larger Tunisian work if you want!)

Time: 17 December 2012 – 23 January 2013. This worked up really quickly (as usual, I was working on other projects during this time too!).

Modifications: None! I worked it exactly according to the pattern. I would use a bigger hook next time, as I think my gauge was a bit tighter than it could have been, but I’m still very happy with it as made.

It definitely will not be my last Aoibhe Ni pattern!