Pattern: Playground Shawl by Justyna Lorkowska
Yarn: caterpillargreen yarns MCN Fingering: Shawl (self-striping) in Concrete Remix.
Ravelry project page here.
What can I say, this yarn is awesome right!? In case any of you haven't heard of Caterpillargreen Yarns, it's self striping yarn. And not just self striping sock yarn, though she does do that and I can vouch for how awesome it is. This is self striping SHAWL yarn. Amazing right? I knit myself a lovely triangular, couldn't be more simple, shawl out of her Peacock colourway that I absolutely adore. With this precious skein of Concrete Remix (which, I believe, is the same as her Concrete and Tulips colourway only with the colours reversed) I wanted to try a different pattern and as soon as I saw the Playground Shawl (free!) I knew it was the one.
I don't think that I've ever knit this shape of shawl before, the asymmetrical triangle, but it's really great. If you don't like triangular shawls, then (you're crazy) you probably won't like an asymmetrical triangular shawl either. I happen to love triangular shawls worn bandana style so this elongated triangle was an immediate hit for me. I'll be looking for more patterns in this shape for future knits for sure.
Justyna is an amazing designer and though this pattern is fairly simple, she's still included a few tips and tricks to make sure it's smooth sailing throughout. Since the yarn changes colour on it's own and sometimes that colour change can fall right in the middle of a row she's included a few suggestions on how to deal with it. I opted to just completely ignore it. It doesn't bother me in the least. I knit my version on smaller needles than the pattern specifies, for no reason other than I have it in my head that I knit fingering weight shawls on 4mm needles... I'm silly.
Beautiful yarn, beautiful shawl. A home run. Oh, and bonus points if you can you spot the other new knit in the photos above!