"Dotted Rays" by Stephen West
Started: June 28, 2015
Finished: July 11, 2015
Fiber: Madelinetosh Pashmina DK in "Holi" - 2 skeins
Notes: 2 countries, 2 weeks, one shawl. My sweet friend Virginia gifted me this beautiful yarn back in March and when I decided to go with my O-Wool Local for my Pure shawl, I knew this would be my next yarn to use, but couldn't find the right pattern. This yarn is loud and bright and beautiful so eventually I landed on Stephen West - all of these things describe his style and his patterns. I knit the small version of Dotted Rays and it was almost exactly 2 skeins. The pattern took some concentration at first, and I found that it was really helpful to place stitch markers every time I turned a short row, it made keeping track of where I was in each row so much simpler. There's also a great little tutorial over at Odette-DS's ravelry page that helped me get started!
As the project grew, it became more and more of mindless garter which was just what I wanted on my vacation in Mexico. The I-cord bind-off took a while, but I think it's worth it, the piece looks so finished and I even wore it to a coffee shop yesterday, couldn't resist. :) It'll be hard to wait to wear this until the fall, the colors are just so summer-y.
I'm really glad that I knit this, it stretched my color palette and my ideas about shawl construction! And to top it off, there's this awesome video. :)
I hope everyone is having an awesome summer! I'm excited about my next two projects, one spinning and one which is going to be a massive undertaking. I can't wait to get started and am swatching this week!