Happy (unofficial) Birthday Baby Sis!.

You may remember in my last blog I mentioned my little sister's birthday. If you follow me on Facebook (either personally, or on my page) you may have seen the pictures already. But I just wanted to share it here, too. It is a very special birthday, as my not so little sister (she is bigger than me!) is turning 21 this year. And just like the Queen, she will be having two birthdays, her unofficial one was last weekend, and her real one is in a couple of months. The reason for this was totally practical, as she is away from home at university, and this was the only opportunity we all had to get together.

I wanted a special present, as you can expect, but I was completely flummoxed about what to get her. Then one afternoon I was browsing on Ravelry and I came across a pattern for an Elise shawl. I had seen other people post up pictures of their completed Elises and always thought the pattern was beautiful. I selected some gorgeously squishy yarn in lovely autumnal colours and off I went..
It did take considerably longer that I anticipated. I'm not the fastest hooker in the West anyway, but I found myself with something creative minded people dread. I Lost My Cro-Jo. I don't know why or how but it just went. not good when you have a deadline. Somehow I managed to bring it all round and finished the shawl with a couple of days to spare.

So here it is :

And a closer look at the stitches:

I did enjoy making this on the whole. It is a lovely, rhythmic pattern on a simple two row repeat. If you're a crocheter and want to give it a go, you can find the pattern on Ravelry It is called an Elise Shawl, by Evan Plevinski.(you might note that I have altered the border from the original. I opted not to do the picot border but it is simple to add)

I also made my sister some earrings in similar colours, though I completely forgot to photograph them in my rush to get everything wrapped in time!

That's all for now. I hope you have a great day :)