Marled Dotted Rays Shawl

I've been working on this shawl for what seems like forever (it wasn't forever). On Sunday morning I made it to the bind-off. The pattern is Dotted Rays from Stephen West. I knit it using two strands of fingering held together (more info on the yarn at the bottom of the post). This meant it knit up pretty quickly on size 8 needles. I also blended the colors together like in the Marled Magic Shawl. 

During the Baltimore Modern Quilt Guild meeting I continued working on the bind off. I was pretty pleased when I made it to the end of the stitches before the end of the meeting. I wove in my last end before stuffing it in the bag to head home. 

Here it is pre-blocking. Kind of a lumpy, pretty thing.

It was big, but didn't seem that big. Then I washed it and sat down with my blocking wires. 

I love how blocking opens up the fabric. Really great with this pattern so those double yarn-over holes open up. 

By the time I get home from work on Monday it should be dry and I can add it to my pile of finished knit projects. Now I have to decide what to do next.

Yarn: Fingering weight yarn call Sock Hop from Dancing Leaf Farm. You can learn more about them from my post after the 2017 Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. 


Tools (affiliate links)
Blocking mats: Balance From Puzzle Exercise Mat with EVA Foam Interlocking Tiles
Blocking wires: Knit Picks Lace Blocking Wires & T-Pins
Knit blockers: Knitter's Pride Knit Blockers & Pin Kit

Knitting Dotted Rays

I started this shawl when I went to the 2018 Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival. You can find the pattern in Stephen West's book WESTKNITS BESTKNITS NUMBER 1 - SHAWLS. I picked up my copy of the book at a local yarn shop and it included a code to receive all the patterns in digital format on Ravelry. You can also find it as a single pattern on Ravelry. I love Dotted Rays. Let me tell you a a knitting story (with pictures).

I knit at breakfast.

I knit in the afternoon.

I knit in the car.

I knit in the car some more.

I knit at breakfast again.

I knit in the car. I also knit in the evening but those photos never look good.

I knit until I ran out of yarn and had to dye more to match. This is totally true and one of the best reasons to dye your own yarn. This assumes you can remember how you got that amazing color.

I knit until I had finished the darn thing. This is pre-blocking. Because you can't see the magic of blocking if you don't compare the pre-blocked shawl to the blocked shawl.

I love pulling out the last set of eyelets to make little points on this shawl. It is so much easier than trying to get a gentle curve and I think the shawl has more impact.

Blocking opens up those double yarn-overs.

Each wedge has its own color story.

I used a little over 250 grams of yarn for this shawl. I think it is a great size for a shawl. 

Loads of fabric to wrap up in. I really like the impact of this as a finished shawl. Now, I have to decide what to knit next.

Pattern: Dotted Rays by Stephen West

Knitting Update - Dotted Rays

Nothing says welcome to Maryland Sheep & Wool like casting on a new shawl. This time I pulled together 50 grams of fingering from Marigoldjen (I bought it last year and didn't use it up) and a couple cakes of yarn I dyed (in 2016) using food coloring.

I'm working up another Dotted Rays Shawl by Stephen West. Why do I keep picking this pattern? because I like how different yarns can really make an impact with a simple pattern. If you want to try your hand at this, or any of Stephen's other designs, West Knits is having a sale in their Ravelry store. Check out the West Knits Facebook for more information and to get the coupon code to save 25%.

I started this on Saturday, May 5th, and I'm making great progress. Though, as I go along those rows will get longer and longer. I have no idea how this is going to turn out, but I'm really pleased with it so far.

I think I am a little over halfway through the first cake of yarn. The stripes of colors will get narrower as I go along but that just adds to the fun.

This green is so much fun!

Knitting Update

I've had this project on my needles for what seems a horribly long time. I decided I needed to dedicate myself to getting it finished. I carried it with me for a couple days to get the lacy bind-off done.

I lost at yarn chicken and had to bind off the last couple dozen stitches in a quick knit-two-together through back loop way to not run out before the end. Now I just need to block it.

This is some fun yarn from my Aunt Betty that I am going to work up into a simple boomerang shawl. this is a little heavier than worsted, so it will be a cushy garter beast when it is done.

I have another project on the needles and I'm thinking about what's next. Do you have a favorite pattern? Something you go back to again and again?

Knitting another Dotted Rays

This is some of the yarn my Aunt Betty shared with me. I really like the effect a striping or ombre yarn will give to the Dotted Rays shawl by Stephen West so I decided to cast on another one.

Bulky knits are fun. I rarely knit to gauge with shawls. I pick the yarn, knit fabric I like with the size needles I like, and just go until I'm almost out of yarn. I don't think shawls need precision when it comes to knitting. I'm not going to overthink it or become a slave to the pattern. This pattern is one that works well when you think about shawl construction as an adventure. Once you have the basic idea down, you can just go with it.

I was only 50 grams in for this photo, so it isn't a small shawl. I had a total of 300 grams of this yarn to work with. I worked until I had less than one 50 gram ball left and bound off. The I-cord bind off uses way more yarn than you think it will, particularly when you bind off loosely. As the wedges become bigger, I used two balls of yarn at a time, alternating rows between the balls, to get the stripes to stay a little wider.

I've stopped trimming the ends of the yarns when I mend them in until after blocking. It seems they always poke out just a bit after blocking so I just wait until the finished piece is blocked and then trim those little ends off.

I love pulling the points on this shawl to open up the holes in the work. Why knit that detail if you aren't going to see?

Working with a heavy-worsted weight yarn makes this knit up quickly and you still get a great finished piece.

Aunt Betty is a Knitter

I wanted to share at least one more project made with some of the yarn from Aunt Betty If you don't know who Aunt Betty is, you should totally go check out this great video by Professor Pincushion. It is worth the four or five minutes of your time.

Look at all this awesome yarn!

I've been letting some modifications to the basic shape of the Wingspan design bump around in my head. This is what finally fell out. If you have some ombre yarn and want to try out this fun shape, I recommend you check out the Wingspan e-Book on Ravelry. The e-book includes four patterns and loads of information on how to design your own shawl with the information you find inside the e-Book. Easy short rows and garter stitch make for a fast and fun project.

This is more of a shawlette made with two skeins of worsted weight wool/silk blend. I should have used larger needles but the blocking opened it up nicely. I think I need to make another, or two. I wonder how it would be to add some lace to the long edge. Oh, the wheels keep turning.

Travel Knitting

I've shared a couple Aunt Betty posts before, but this time Betty is a knitter. If you don't know who Aunt Betty is, you should totally go check out this great video by Professor Pincushion. It is worth the four or five minutes of your time.

This particular Aunt Betty dropped off several trash bags of yarn. The claim was that it was crowding her creative space and blocking the creativity. I totally understand that! I pulled out all the awesome yarn to share. So many ideas in here.

I caked up a couple skeins for the trip to California. I like to start a project at BWI and see how far I can get before I get home. This little bit was my beginning. I'm not even sure this piece survived as I generally have to rip out my cast on about three times before I like the direction the project is going.

This started out looking like a shawl.

Then, I joined it to work in the round.

I worked through an entire cake before going crazy with the increases.

This gorgeous succulent, found outside Lolo's in Morro Bay California, could have been the color inspiration for this yarn.

Once I got through the first cake, I started to add texture. This lace is similar to that used on Bosc Pear, a free pattern on Ravelry. It is a variation of Slip Stitch Lace using three stitches.

I'm going to add an unknown number of lace repeats to the bottom edge of the tube. This type of cowl is similar to Viajante by Martina Behm, a paid pattern available through Ravelry. I started with my own triangle shape and am placing increases where I think they will work. This project is a complete experiment. The perfect thing when Aunt Betty gives you yarn.

Glittering Knit and Slide

It took me entirely too long to get the perfect three skeins of yarn for this project. These are all Ewe So Sparkly Sock from Tempting Ewe Yarns. A yummy fingering weight with a touch of sparkle.s

The pattern is another beauty from Stephen West called Knit 'n Slide. I caked the yarn and got stitching during the Wednesday game night.

Made almost entirely with the humble knit stitch it works up quickly until you get to the fancy border. Then, you go from hundreds of stitches to an almost impossible 1200+ stitches. I use Knit Picks Options Interchangeable Nickle-Plated Circular Needles. This lets me start with a shorter cable (the 40") and shift up to a longer cable (the 60") when the stitches start to feel crowded.

The picot bind off makes those 1200+ stitches seem an impossible task. The effect will be worth the time and effort, though.

Even before blocking it was a nice size and shape.

I started with blocking wires and then decided the Knit Blockers and pins would be just fine. I used every single t-pin I own for this blocking job. I didn't pin every picot point, but enough of them to open each of those loopy bits.

I knit the smaller size and it is just right. Not all shawls need to be super-sized.

I think I might knit the center of this one again. I'm not so certain about the edging even though it is pretty awesome after blocking. It did give me some ideas about using short rows to make interesting shapes. Some test knitting might be in order.