This is the end result of tweaking and trying to formulate the pattern for Reyna.

I had a hank of Miss Babs sock yarn in my stash, and wasn’t quite sure what to make with it. I started socks, but wasn’t quite happy with how they turned out (the colourwork itself was obscuring the pattern), then started another shawl, and yet again, the pattern was pale on the side of the colours.

For the third time (and the fourth, fifth and sixth iterations), I decided to go for a simple shawl that would try to make the best of the variegated colourways instead of fighting against them to keep the pattern visible. For complex yarn, use a simple pattern. Thus, I ended up with garter stitch and mesh.

Garter stitch is perfect for colour changes, because it splices the different colours from different rows together. This means that, with variegated yarn, you’ll have different colours on different rows partially overlapping each other, creating thinner stripes and at times lines of contrasting dots as the purl sides of the garter stitch contrast against the stitches from the previous rows.

I felt like simple mesh would be another good choice, as it spreads open the fabric, giving different colours breathing room, so to say. Having a fair bit of open space around all the changing colours creates a bit of balance to the mix.

I went with a non-pooling variegated colourway for this pattern. This creates a more even, random look for the colouring of the shawl, and in my opinion would be the best fit for the pattern. Miss Babs’ yarn was absolutely perfect for this job. Had I managed to get my hands on some more of Hedgehog Fibres’ Sock yarn (those sell out so fast!), that would have been a great choice for the yarn too.

Pooling variegated colourways should work well with this shawl too. Some striping may happen, but the garter and mesh should break most of it up. Avoiding most of the striping would be possible by knitting with both ends of the skein, knitting two rows with one end and then switching to the other end for another two rows.