Initial Thoughts:

• I decided to make this project because it’s unlike anything I’ve seen before, I thought it would be relatively straight-forward and would use up small and limited yarn remnants. Note: There is no detailed provision of yarn amounts required (and not enough projects as yet to gain data from others). As instructed, you need up to 50g of each contrast colour (though no one who’s chronicled this has used more than 25) and up to 300g of the main colour. That’s a lot of yarn for a fingering to sport-weight shawl. I intend to keep detailed notes of my experience on this front in the event that the data may help someone else / save them energy. Some project pages provide interesting and theoretically useful information but it’s not knowably stipulated or corroborated by other pages. For example, my designation of colour blocks 1-10 (and the pattern doesn’t present them in this way) is potentially different from someone else’s.

• On the topic of straight-forwardness, having spent 2 hours figuring what happens where (see the Schematic I created in the attached photo if it may be of some use to you), I personally can’t give this pattern top marks for clarity though, certainly, a lot of organized work has gone into creating an intriguing design. My schematic, a detailed version of the line drawing provided in the pattern instructions, presents an alternative view of what colours are intended to be used at the same time and when).

• I find the charts challenging to work with (esp if printed) because they print out small. I’m pretty old school and I like to work from a printed chart that isn’t tiny. At a minimum, it would be helpful if there were one diagram showing all segments of the chart together so that it would be clear how each page intersects with the others. As it is, I had to tape all of mine together to gain a cohesive sense of the way this is worked - or, more specifically, so that I could understand how the colour blocking comes together. It would have been easier - at least for my brain - if the content in the diagram I created was presented as such in the pattern.

• I’ve included additional lace-weight and fingering yarns that work with my palette in the event that I don’t have enough of one of the original contrast yarns I have chosen.

• It would appear from other project pages that the contrast colours use between 20-25g. The impression I get (but it’s hard to tell as the colour blocks aren’t geometric) is that one uses most of C3, which would make sense given that it appears in 4 of the 10 main colour blocks (vs the 3 that each use C1 and C2). That’s what one of the project pages corroborates but, again, there’s not a lot of data available at this point and the pattern merely suggests that one might require up to 50g of each contrast colour (not helpful if you’re using up yarn ends). Update: CC1 uses the most yarn of the 3 contrast colours at 45g, the other 2 contrast colours use ~29-30g.

• I definitely recommend using stitch markers to delineate the colour segments (in each round) from one another. I didn’t do this right at the beginning and I did manage to move out of phase, with one yarn, by one stitch. It’s barely noticeable (and if you didn’t know you would not be able to tell), but stuff like that drives me nuts.

The Knitting:

• I really like how this shawl casts on but I haven’t got off to the smoothest start. Turns out that I don’t really know how to fix an i cord edge when I mess it up. Ask me how I know. :-) Alas, another hour spent trying to figure this out. There’s not much online support on this specific topic but I’ve worked it out to some extent (though not as much as I’d like given that I’m at the start of this project and I’m going to be working that icord for 700ish rows). The issue is that I don’t know if I can remember what I did. It’s about a combo of making sure that the stitches are positioned properly (it’s not what you think) and doing so while you drop down a few rows. You have to a) correctly position the stitches and then b) figure out how to ladder up such that icord string doesn’t run in front of the stitches. On the plus side, as long as you pay attention and tink back as necessary (and the rows aren’t that long), you can fix this easily enough. I just want the ability to do so without having to rip back (given that ripping back by removing all of the stitches and pulling out the yarn - vs tinking - can lead to problem positioning the stitches on the needle incorrectly.

• I’ve opted to switch between US5 and US6 needles to create a fabric that isn’t too thick/crunchy when there are 3 colours worked simultaneously. It remains to be seen whether I’ll go back to the US5 when holding 2 colours simultaneously. In some instances, you do a row having 1 colour in one section, 2 colours in one section and 3 colours in another section. So I suspect when it’s a segment with only 1 or 2 colours in a row, I’ll stick with US5 but might go up to the 6 in the 3-colour rows. Update: Switching fixed needles, to manage this, was a PITA. Only did it on one occasion because there’s enough fussiness in this project as it is. But why was I switching between to fixed needles? Cuz I realized at some point that I didn’t have a US6 needle in one of my interchageable sets and I didn’t have a US 5 in the other interchangeable set. And the 2 sets don’t work together. This seems strange to me, given that I’ve got a seriously curated needle collection, but I do prefer to work in those sizes on fixed needles and I recently gave my daughter some of the Knitter’s Pride tips that I didn’t love to use. I’ve now ordered another US6 interchangeable to go with the 5 I’ve currently got on the cable. I couldn’t do this sooner because I was on vacay and there were none avail locally.

• This isn’t a simple knit. It’s not advanced in terms of construction, but the colour work takes focus (esp given that the 3 i cord edge stitches on either side out of the shawl are only worked in the main colour). The yarns get as tangled as they would when working actual intarsia. You can’t ignore multiple things happening at the same time in every section or you’ll have to rip back which (per icord diatribe above, is not simple). I’m not suggesting that it isn’t a desirable finished object but I thought this knit would be fun and meditative. So far, not so much. Thing is, every time you get lulled into a rhythm, it brings up the potential to miss something. And just as I wrote this, I realize that I read the beginning of Chart 2 incorrectly and now I have to rip back to Chart 1. Lord. I can’t blame a clear chart for my mistake. There’s just a lot to keep straight simultaneously. I guess this isn’t the kind of thing to start knitting right before a holiday when one is tired). It took 90 minutes to rip back about 50 rows because of the yarn insanity of unknitting 3 strands.

• Note to self while playing yarn chicken with the main colour and given that I don’t intend to buy another ball of yarn: I started with 201g of MC. As of R303, in section 3 of the pattern (39R from when the increases stop and 73R from the centre point of the shawl), I’ve used 31% of the MC yarn. I suspect I will make it to the mid point of the shawl with at least 101g remaining, just over half of the amount of MC required. But, if I do not, I will remove rows from the scarf as of ~R391 in Section 4 because a) there are no incs or decs work in that segment, b) that segment only works 2 colours at the same time AND c) the colour block doesn’t change shape. Time will tell if this is necessary and to what extent I’ll need to remove rows. I don’t want to mess with the symmetry of the two sides of the shawl or stitch counts (not that this matters, technically, as long as I work the increases in the proportion instructed), which is why I want to do any row cutting in the “straight” segment of the shawl (no incs or decs), which is only in Section 4.

• I tried using the RFL in Vintage (purple) as the CC1 for Blocks 4 and 5, just to introduce a new colour, but there was too much contrast between it and the white. (Secretly, I don’t love the shade of the CC1 alpaca bamboo which is kind of a mouse brown.) Given the contrast issue, I had to rip back 4 rows. Somehow tinking in this project is more tangle-inducing than knitting.

• Definitely, the fussiest part of this scarf is between R361-366 inclusive. Though you never hold more than 3 strands at a time, in this segment, the colour-changes happen 6x per row. With yarn management, this took more than 30 min - which given how simple the actual knitting is, says something. Happily, it’s the only segment of rows wherein 4 balls of yarn are used.

• As of R367 I have 7g remaining of my MC (before it’s half way used and I need to be on the decrease, or I need to cut rows). That’s 10R as the mid-way point of the scarf is 378R. We’ll see if I can get there…

• So - my very light-weight fingering yarn went exactly half way - like to the gram. For me, 432 yards went half way. If your fingering is thicker, you’ll likely need slightly more than 100g to get half way through the shawl. I’m also happy to see that I got half way on 1 ball of the MC because I don’t like heavy shawls. I’d like this to top out at 250g max. Update: 432y didn’t go quite half way, see below. Also, finished object weighs about 300g, in the end and, even if I had used only lace-weight contrast colours, it would still weigh approx 300g.

• I’ve still opted to cut 6R out of Chart Section 4 (the part of the shawl knitted plain / so that both sides of inc and dec segments will be symmetrical), shortly after getting to the half way point, because Block 6 is eating up more of CC2 than I thought it would. And I was slightly short on CC2 to begin with. My approach to managing this, aside from cutting out 6R rows that use this colour, will be to marl in the grey KFO) when I’ve got 2g of the Sonder Luna remaining and then to segue to that colour for the rest of colour block 6 when it runs out. (At this point the Block is knitted with only MC and one contrast colour.) Update: I actually got through Block 6 with CC2 given that I used the KFO grey in the segment knitted with this colour that includes both Block 6 and Block 7. As such, I had enough of the Luna left (2.5g) to work the segment of Block 8, that uses CC1, CC2 and MC simultaneously (which also happens to be the beginning of Block 9). The remainder of CC2 segment in Block 9 will be knitted with the KFO pale pink OR Sonder mauve, depending on which works best. I would continue to use the KFO grey but it’s too close in colour to CC1, the grey brown…

Final Thoughts:

• For the most part, this is a very clear pattern but I would have appreciated knowing how much yarn each section requires. And I think the charts should be resized for ease of use (even if it means that there may be more charts to look at).

• While this knit became less unpleasant at about the half-way point (once I had things figured out), it was still tedious. I actually think this may have been more trouble than it’s worth, even though the finished object is appealing. Note that this isn’t the fault of the pattern or the designer. This is simply a fussy knit of the sort I really don’t enjoy.

• I ended up working most of the shawl on a US5 and it worked out fine. It’s dense in certain spots but I used a light-fingering as my MC and a US6 might have created too open a fabric with a yarn of that gauge.

• I did aim to use lace-weight yarn remnants for all of the contrast colours, though I ended up having to use light-fingering remnants in a couple of instances and that made the fabric thicker and denser than I’d prefer. Even with 3 strands (2 lace-weight and 1 fine-fingering), it was thicker than I’d optimally prefer. I hope that blocking evens out the fabric from a density perspective. I would recommend using either mohair/silk OR “regular” lace-weight yarn, not combining the 2, because then the shawl will look fuzzy in some spots and not in others, which might seem unintentional.

• It’s a good thing that I cut 6R out of the widest part of the shawl because I would not have made it to the end with enough of the MC if I hadn’t. I don’t really know how that is though, cuz I was exactly at the half way point of my yarn, at the half-way point of the shawl, and I didn’t remove the 6R until after I’d hit that midpoint. If you want to use only 2 balls of fingering (specifically 200g), I recommend working with a light-fingering (which should provide more yardage per 100g) and cutting out a few rows in the segment worked without increases or decreases.

• I wouldn’t buy yarn to act as contrast colours. For me, this was a stash-busting exercise - for contrast colours. I did buy the MC to use in this project. As such, and I really hope the info provided below may help other knitters of this shawl, I ran out of yarn in certain instances so I just subbed in another colour, with a similar vibe, and kept on.

• At 304g / 1525y, this is a heavy finished object by my standards, and particularly heavy for an object that will hang from the neck.

• I definitely recommend wet blocking the finished object for all the reasons, but specifically because the shape of this shawl is not “set” by the knitting. It looks rather uneven on the side that gets the incs and decs. To turn it into a proper crescent, you’ll need to manipulate the yarn while wet, and pin (at a minimum). Update: I’m not happy with how it blocked using pins. I should have used wires on the curved edge. I did try to do this but wire wasn’t playing along.

Yarn Amounts Used: Because each block (as designated in my diagram) uses multiple colours of yarn I will reflect the amount of yarn when it’s used in a block for the first time. Note that I’ve aligned each block with a “main” contrast colour in my diagram. If that yarn segues into a second block (for example, contrast colour 2 appears in block 1 and block 2), I’ll indicate how much I’ve used of it it in the block in which I first encounter it (in this case, block 1). If that contrast colour is used again in the next block (in this case contrast colour 2 appears again in block 2), I’ll note how much in addition has been used (over and above what I categorized in the previous block in which it appeared). Alas, sometimes the segments overlap too much to break the numbers out clearly. In those instances, I’ve noted below where the yarn amount has been captured / reflected.

Block 1 - 10g CC1 / 2g CC2 (Up to end of working CC1 along with CC2 in Block 1…)

Block 2 - 6.5g CC2 (3g + ~2g + 1.5g)

Block 3 - 3.25g CC3 (includes amount of overlap between Block 2 and Block 3)

Block 4 - 11.5g CC3 (continues into Block 5)

Block 5 - 19g CC1, CC2 (measured in block 6)

Block 6 - 7g CC2 Note that I cut 6R from this section so I used a bit less of CC2 than is called for… / Note also that, for the segment of Block 6 that is also in Block 7, I used 3g CC2b (KFO grey), to save some yarn… So total CC2 10g. As instructed, 12g of lace-weight should be enough to complete this block…

Block 7 - 8g CC3 (In this instance, CC2 is reflected in block 6 based on how these sections overlap.)

Block 8 - Note that I stopped the contrast colours in this block 4R before pattern instructs, after R572, so this yardage is slightly lower than it would be if I’d followed the pattern. 15.5g CC1, 2g CC2 (Luna) (This only includes the CC2 in this block, see below for the rest of CC2 that overlaps with Block 9.)

Block 9 - This is where I started going off road because I was running out of CC2 yarn and I needed alternatives but I was also out of lowish-contrast lace-weight scraps. I stopped C2 earlier than called for by about 10R (but at the very narrowest part at the top so I don’t think this influenced yarn usage by much). I also switched to CC2c 6g (SM mauve, but this yarn is fingering-weight not lace-weight…) and, thereafter, used 4g CC2d (KFO merino, pale pink, also fingering-weight). I can only estimate that this Block (not including the CC2 that overlaps with Block 8) would use about 12g of CC2.

Block 10 - 6.25g CC3, (CC2 is reflected in block 9 based on how these sections overlap)

Amounts of yarn used:
MC: 200g / 864y
CC1: 44.5g / 178y
CC2: 18g / 158y
CC2b: 3g / 25y
CC2c: 6g / 26y
CC2d: 4g / 22y
Total CC2, if one yarn, would use ~30g lace-weight
CC3: 29g / 253y

Total 304.5g / 1526y

Pre-blocked Measurements: 70” tip to tip, 20” midshawl depth

How Much of Each Contrast Colour I Have:

Alpaca Bamboo (Grey Brown) - 61g / 242y CC1
Sonder Luna (Peach) - 18g / 158 yards CC2
Rowan Fine Lace (Pink) - 29g / 253 yards CC3
KFO Cashmere (Grey) - 7g / 74 yards CC2b
Sonder Sunday Morning (mauve) - 8g / 35 yards CC2c
KFO Merino (pale pink) - 31g / 170 yards CC2d

I’ll sub in KFO grey, KFO pink or Sonder mauve to make up for any shortfall I have with the Sonder Luna peach (I’ll need to see which colour works better as I go).