A magical marriage of yarn and pattern makes for a beautiful shawl, with exquisite drape and added sparkle.

This was such a joy to knit. Lots of lovely garter stitch (just the thing for midwinter knitting in front of the box) relieved with those genius lace short rows to keep things from getting too boring.

I love the effect the short rows have on the fabric, too, making the garter lines veer off in different directions. GENIUS.

The whole thing reminds me how much I dig crescent shawls. I find them super wearable, great for stashing in my bag and tossing on in lieu of a cardi. And they don’t fall off my shoulders!

So yeah, this is a great design. As for the pattern writing, it’s next level. Really clear instructions with the steps laid out logically. A chart for chart-lovers like me (glory be) and written instructions for those peeps who aren’t. Which is all ace and now I’m patting myself on the back that I’ve got a whole heap more patterns by the same designer queued up and in my library. Yay!!!

A word about the yarn: It’s GORGEOUS. The soft greys with the merest charcoal speckle are so sophisticated… and then there’s that silver lurex ply lending it a trashy disco edge. For a woman who’s a magpie at heart, attracted to all the glittery things, I’ve always been weirdly repelled by stellina. I’ve never knitted anything sparkly before. But this is nothing like your usual glittery yarn. Oh no. Fabulous, is what it is. And soft. Love love love it.