Sampler Shawl

I promised a mini-shawl pattern waaaaay back when the first fingering sampler packs came out, and I've been working on it, truly I have. 

I generated a multitude of promising ideas, and whipped up all manner of possibilities by the seat of my pants, thereby creating a sizeable pile of partial shawls and abandoned swatches. Finally, I did what I ought to have done in the first place, and set down the baseline requirements: dimensions to optimally combine efficient use of yardage with practical wearability, undulating lines to maximize the dramatic effect of colour changes, intuitive internal logic, and flexibility in yarn requirement (ie. short pattern repeat to allow every scrap of yarn to be used and bind off on any given row). I gave angst-ridden artsy brain the day off, put math brain in gear, and had a viable algorithm in a surprisingly short time.

It is very cute and wearable as is, and I expect will improve considerably with blocking... I think this is the one!

The shawl used up a 6 x 60 yd fingering weight sampler pack, and would also be ideal for a single 100 gm skein of just about any fingering weight yarn, though I suspect it would also be lovely in a larger, 2 skein version. The garter stitch construction and strong graphic lines would be particularly effective for highly variegated yarns.

I'll block it over the next couple of days, and I hope to have at least a beta version of the pattern ready by next week (not to mention some more sampler packs) but that will depend on the state of this sinus headache, which is seriously inhibiting focused computer work. (You know the kind - every time you cough, your eyeballs want to pop right out of their sockets, and you feel all dizzy and foggy like there isn't enough room for your brain? SO not what I needed for getting back up to speed this week.)

Speaking of computer sessions, I have got a nice selection of laceweight reskeined and ready to go, so I will try to photograph and upload them tomorrow... and try out the new newsletter program (just so's you know to expect something that looks a little different).

Comments

[random Cindy]

So should I sign up for the newsletter to find out when the next sampler snack pack becomes available?