Finished: Dotted Rays Shawl

Even though I've been knitting for about 9 years, I still find it hard to get away from the negative connotations of the word 'shawl'. It still conjures up an idea of an ugly, lacy, frumpy, fringed item, which is so far away from the myriad of vibrant and interesting shawl patterns now available.

I first saw this pattern on Franca of Oranges &Apples' Instagram (and blogged here) - it's the Dotted Rays shawl by Stephen West. It seemed like a fun project, and as I felt a bit mired in a cardigan knitting project, I gladly put that aside in favour of this shawl. Since then, it seems like the pattern has been all over my Instagram as there has been a knit-along for it.

What attracted me to it was the simple shape and flexibility to use up stashed and scrap yarn. I used a beautifully soft Skein Queen yarn in the colourway Hollowgast, along with some beautifully vivid Yarn Yard indigo for the stripes. Both of these were in my stash, though I had to buy an additional skein of the Hollowgast from a Ravelry user for about £17, so it wasn't a completely virtuous project! The first skein was a bargain 99p purchase from my best haul of charity shop yarn ever, so it wasn't too expensive overall. This is probably not a colourway I would normally choose but I think the muted green and vivid violet work together really well.

I found starting this project really hard as the instructions are really terribly written. I have never used a Stephen West pattern before, but I have been assured that his projects are not normally so hard to follow. Happily another Ravelry user had written some excellent instructions, so with the help of those I was able to get started.

Overall it was enjoyable to knit and an easy pattern to memorise and follow, although I was getting fed up of those long rows by the final stages.

The finished shape is different from the usual triangular shawl shape and is really just like a scarf with tapered ends. As a result, I end up wearing it bundled around my neck just like any old scarf. Not particularly elegant but I'm happy that the yarn is so beautifully soft and warm. The pattern has great potential for vibrant multi-coloured versions, so maybe next time I will try something a bit more daring!

K x