May I introduce: this is my Tatto. Just like the original by designer Paulina Popiolek, my garter stitch knitted, slightly asymmetrical triangular shawl spoils me with its wonderfully soft and voluminous texture. It is also exactly the same size. It just looks completely different. I'm not just referring to the warm, autumnal colours, but also to the sometimes different stripe patterns.
My tattoo wasn't planned in advance. It wasn't even really thought through. It's the surprising result of a spontaneous, relaxed knitting experience that I threw in at very short notice. For the World Wide Knit in Public Day, on which I wanted to knit outside in the city, I needed something new on my needles in a hurry. And I only realised this the night before. So I rummaged through my stash and the knitting instructions on our website. My aim was to find something uncomplicated that I could make with my existing wool. And it had to look harmonious too, of course.
So I started by looking for yarn in the same thickness, in colours that I personally like together: I found Lovely Merino Treat in copper beech, amethyst, caramel, tea and cream. Now I just needed an idea of what to do with it. After a lot of baby and doll knitting from leftovers, I still had the scraps of leftovers. I had a total of 340 grams on the kitchen scales - the equivalent of more than three skeins. Maybe enough to knit myself a nice accessory? I searched the filter for instructions that fulfil the criteria Lovely Merino Treat, shawls and simple. And then Tatto popped up. I thought, yes, a striped triangular shawl would be fun to knit and would also add colour to plain outfits.
We have recently started indicating the yarn consumption in grams in our own instructions (and if we get the information, in the indies in the shop too), not just in skeins. This is extremely helpful if you want to use up existing yarn stocks. For Tatto it says:
You need 4 skeins of Lovely Merino Treat: 2 skeins (155g) in colour A, 1 skein (95g) in colour B and 1 skein (80g) in colour C.
We obtain the figures by weighing the test knits or the wool used for each colour and then extrapolating for the different sizes. Then we add the consumption for the stitch samples to the skein information in the most appropriate place and: Voilá. But back to my tattoo.
I didn't have four skeins at my disposal, but after a little addition I knew that I had enough yarn to knit the shawl in full size. I did have five colours instead of three, and a completely different quantity distribution. But at least I could use the instructions for my shawl as a basic framework, as a guide - and I would improvise with the sequence of colours and stripes. Just as well, after all, I wanted to knit outside and talk to people, so constantly looking at the instructions would only have been a hindrance. A few relaxed knitting sessions later, I held my finished tattoos in my hands - and I have to say: it's super cosy and warm. And it contains the colours of my three favourite jumpers. I really love it!
Maybe you'd also like to give free rein to your ideas. Just take a look at what you have in your stash, benefit from our gram-accurate quantities and don't be afraid to modify a design according to your preferences or existing yarn selection.
By the way: I could have easily made Tatto bigger or smaller by knitting more or fewer rows - depending on my preferences and what I had on hand. You can also easily adjust the size of other shawls in simple patterns such as garter stitch, e.g. Drachenfels or Joyful. So it's not always a matter of a few grams more or less - but rather the desire to create and improvise.
