Close to You

Just look at the colors transitioning through that garter stitch! And look at the edging! For what started as a skein of "what was I thinking?" yarn, this stuff made a gorgeous little shawl. The pattern is called Close to You and it's a free download over on Ravelry.  It's almost entirely garter stitch and there are only two lines out of every twelve where you have to count just a little bit. Days and days of knitting time without looking at a pattern, which is what I needed for this project.  

Pattern: Close to You (free Ravelry Download) 

Yarn: Knitpicks Chroma Fingering (Sandstone)  

I've almost never ordered a Knitpicks yarn I didn't like. Chroma Fingering is one of those rare exceptions (but to be fair my skeins have been sitting in my stash for years and the current version may be completely different.)  I ordered it during one of the big yarn sales a few years back and originally thought I'd use it for socks, but when I cast on for a pair the yarn unspun with every stitch. It's a loosely spun single ply and my skein ranged from thick and fluffy to thin and tight. (Some of  the reviews over on Ravelry say it's not appropriate for socks, but there are also lots of pairs in the finished project photos.)

It's much better for knitting shawls with, although I still felt I was babying  the yarn quite a bit to keep it from untwisting or splitting....but as soon as I finished this shawl I cast on a different one with a purple skein of Chroma, so I can't hate it too much. 

I went into this project knowing that I was playing yarn chicken and wound up spacing out the picots on the binding to make sure that I wouldn't run out. It was a middle of the row decision, but one that I'm happy with.

This one was a great stash diving project. I used up yarn that I'd given up on and made a project I'm thrilled with.