dotted rays shawl – Yards of Happiness

FO: Speckled Dotted Rays

I finished my secret test knit last week and immediately picked back up my Dotted Rays shawl because my office is freezing one day and hot and humid the next. I needed something good to wrap up in at my desk and this is definitely what I wanted.

I said before that I attempted to make this shawl in the fingering weight version but didn’t love the tiny yarn or the color combo I started with so I frogged it. But as with most West Knits patterns I knew I could make this in a heavier weight so I opted to make the dk weight version instead and do it in a solid color throughout so I’d have a more neutral wrap to go with my colorful wardrobe. And to say this wrap is huge is an understatement. I never measure things (I’m so horrible at those final details) but it’s definitely taller than I am and it’s great for snuggling up in.
Dotted rays
I used about 900 yards of Madelinetosh DK Twist in Cosmic silver, one of my favorite colorways. I love that it’s a soft and pretty grey but has all these great fleck of color running throughout it. It’s a very subtle rainbow and I can’t resist a rainbow.

This is a great project for working on in between other projects. It’s easy garter stitch with a repeatable pattern and it’s hard to mess it up. Just the kind of mindless thing you need sometimes. I even worked on it on Saturday at the movie theater.
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I treated myself to Life of the Party on Saturday, I needed to get out of the house after a week of rain and my husband being on travel again. The seat next to me was empty and our theater has those great reclining seats so I threw my project bag in the seat next to me, kicked my feet up and knit through the entire movie. I’m always torn about Melissa McCarthy movies. I think she’s hilarious but I always feel like her movies fall just a little flat, but I laughed and almost finished my shawl in the theater. So it was a win for me.
Dotted rays
And now I’m on to summer knitting!! I already started my cotton version of the Durumi sweater and started my colorwork row over 3 times yesterday BUT I started it. And I think it’s going to be a super fast knit. Add in that Thursday is my 15th wedding anniversary and my husband and I are taking off to have an extra long weekend together of good restaurants, movies and adventures and I’m already pumped for my weekend to begin! So what’s new that you’re working on?

Currently in the Queue: It Won’t Stop Raining

Dotted rays
It won’t stop raining. It has been so grey and wet around my neck of the woods. I’m over it! But with my husband traveling and the rainy weather that has given me more reason to snuggle on the couch and knit. So I thought I’d give you an idea of what’s in my queue right now.

FINISHED: My test knit! Woohoo. After what seemed to be an endless amount of stockinette I’ve finished my secret test knit. I don’t know when I’ll be able to share pics but it’s a good one.
IN PROGRESS: Dotted Rays, pictured above. I squished it down for the photo but I’m almost finished with this baby. I’ve got 2 more sections and I should be casting off. I may just sit down and finish it over the weekend but…
ANTICIPATING: Durumi for spring. I’ve really been itching to get on with some of my summer knitting because I know the temps are about to turn up for real. I know my gauge and I’m reading to wind my yarn and start on my Durumi this weekend.
ON HOLD: Still leaving my spring jacket on hold. Perhaps I’ll pick her back up in August.

May 18, 2018 by IamDWJ Categories: In My Queue, KnittingTags: #yardsofhappiness, dotted rays shawl, knitting, knitting queue, Yarn Leave a comment

Stitching Status: Shall I Shawl?

I realized the other day that I usually work on two projects at the same time. When one stitch pattern gets monotonous I pick up something else to shake off the boredom (you know rows of stockinette can get a bit boring). So while I’m working on a secret test knit sweater I decided to also whip up a shawl.
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I started and frogged the Dotted Rays shawl in fingering weight yarn last fall.

I didn’t love this pink color palette and the fingering weight yarn wasn’t cooperating with me. BUT since cutting off all my hair and having this cooler spring weather and crazy office cold I decided I wanted to add another shawl to my rotation to keep my neck warm. I wear my Find Your Fade shawl a lot but wanted something more neutral (shocker coming from me but everything can’t be full of color). So I decided to try the Dotted Rays shawl again but in the dk weight version. At first I was going to do several colors but I kept going back to wanting something a bit more neutral that would go with everything. So I dug into my stash and pulled out this Madelinetosh DK Twist in Cosmic Silver I bought in April 2016. I have 6 skeins and this project will probably require about 4 of them, so I’ll have enough to maybe make some fingerless mitts and/or a hat for the fall too. Whenever there is a Madelinetosh sale I typically buy a sweater quantity of yarn and I intended to make this a sweater but last year I also bought the same colorway in worsted weight and made this lovely sweater for myself and Jellybean!
Baldric and Beanie
So I decided why not use all that yarn to make a huge shawl for myself? The color pops are more subtle in the dk weight but they’re there. And this is something easy to work on when my test knit gets boring or I can’t travel with my full sweater. I’d love to do a dk weight two color brioche shawl too but I just haven’t found a pattern I love. Anybody have any suggestions?