Daybreak

My friend, Janet, gifted me with a beautiful skein of Shalimar DK yarn in a color called Sea Glass. For some months I kept it stashed with my other single skeins of fingering weight yarn, periodically taking it out to pet and admire.

I just loved the color, but what to do with it? Socks were a possibility with that yardage, but I hated to hide that sea blue inside a pair of shoes.

Then, while trolling around Ravelry late one night, I fell into the rabbit hole which is westknits. That guy! He has more fun with color than practically anyone. And so many of his patterns are just perfect for mixing a bunch of lovely one-skein fingering weight yarns. Of which I have a pretty hefty collection, on account of I can't resist them.

His Daybreak pattern looked like a good bet for someone who is dipping a toe into playing with colors. You can go crazy, as have many of the 6986 knitters who have posted their Daybreaks on Ravelry. Or you can timidly use just two colors and see where it takes you. Like me.

I used a skein of Madeline Tosh Sock in the color Whiskey Barrel for my contrast. It's hard to see from the photos but this brown has flashes of blue winking in and out.

I thought I'd be able to knock out a size Large, but I didn't have quite enough of the Whiskey Barrel. But the size Medium is plenty big enough for me.

I'm new to shawl knitting. This one starts small at the back of the neck and grows exponentially as you knit your way out. Gee, those last rows seem to go on forever. Maybe a bit boring, but also soothing. This is a great project for social knitting, or TV watching.

I'm also new to shawl wearing. I think this is a nice shape and size. Those long corners keep the thing put when you drape them over your shoulders, and the fingering weight means the shawl is light enough to scrunch up at the collar of your jacket if you're wearing it out on a blustery day.

I might need to rest up a bit before I dive into another shawl, but it will be fun to review my sock yarn stash and play with some colors for another Daybreak. Or, if I'm brave enough, maybe a Rockefeller.

My Ravelry project notes are here.