Beach Pebbles is a shawl idea I’ve had in mind since a trip to PEI in the summer of 2015.
Watching the waves bring in pebbles and shells was very calming, and I loved the little V’s of water that appeared when the water went back down the beach. I knew that I wanted to use beads.
While I was in PEI I made one yarn purchase: 2 skeins of Briggs & Little Lite ‘n’ Fancy Softspun in a beachy kind of colour. It’s not the red of some of the beaches in PEI, but I still think it’s perfect. It’s a sport weight yarn, so I paired it with an assortment of largish wooden beads in a variety of sizes and colours. I cast on before a family trip and set off *without a pattern*. This was a bit of a stretch for me, because I’m usually all about symmetry and planning, but I wanted the feel of the beach.
In my wanderings on the beach, I noted that you sometimes see pebbles and shells on their own, spaced out, and then when there is a ridge, there is a whole row of them clumped together. I wanted to emulate that, so I started off putting beads far away from each other – mostly. Then near the bottom there’s a few lines of beads. I’ve included this bead layout in the pattern.
For people who prefer a little more regularity in their knitting, I whipped up a fingering weight version with 1 skein of Wollmeise Pure. Since the pattern is increasing on the edges every row and since Wollmeise comes in 150g skeins, it works out to a nice medium size. I’ve still used a watery colour, but the silver beads give this version a completely different look. Instructions for this version are also in the pattern.
Beach Pebbles is on sale for 25% off (automatic discount) until end of day Nov. 9 ($5 USD afterwards): 
