I didn’t realize shawl knitting could be so much fun!  You take stripes, garter stitch and short rows and you have yourself a winning combination!  The Color Affection shawl was the perfect relaxing summer project and I was almost sad when I bound off the last stitch.  Not for too long though, as I was plotting my next stripey project 🙂

Color Affection 8

For this shawl, I used Tosh Merino Light.  The yellow is leftover from the Vitamin D cardigan I finished last summer and I paired it with a faded blue and a deep blue-black.

Color Affection 6

As far as knitterly notes go… I began the shawl using a garter stitch tab using Stephen West’s instructions.  As always, I used a larger needle to knit the entire pattern and I’m glad I did because you really have to be mindful while knitting stripes especially when you switch colors.  If you knit too tight (like I tend to do), then chances are that you will get a scrunched up edge.  The answer to my tight knitting woes :: automatically reaching for larger knitting needles 🙂

Color Affection 5

Additionally with this particular pattern, to ensure that there is no puckering in the three colored stripes section, I added a yarn over (YO) between the first two stitches on every row.  On the return trip, I dropped the YO and finished knitting the row.  The extra bit of yarn adds the right amount of slack to help the stripes lay flat and once you’re on the next row, you can’t even tell that there was an (intentional) YO.

Color Affection 7

I bound off using a larger needle and Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off (JSSBO). Ysolda explains this technique really well in her tutorial.  The edge turned out super stretchy and gave the whole shawl and smooth finished look.  I’m going to use the JSSBO all the time now!

Color Affection 2

Color Affection (my Ravelry notes)
Pattern: Color Affection by  Veera Valimaki
Yarn: Tosh Merino Light in “Candlewick”, “Denim” & “Thunderstorm”
Needles: Size US 7 / 4.5 mm

Color Affection 1

The shawl turned out to be a generous size and is so lovely and cozy wrapped around.  I’m sure I will be so grateful for its warmth during morning drop-offs at school later this year 🙂

Color Affection 4

I might even knit this pattern again… now, that’s saying a lot since I hardly ever knit the same pattern twice 😉

8 thoughts on “Color Affection

  1. Jocelyn

    Lovely to see you on the blog! usually it’s your projects and WIPs so this is a very nice change.
    Gorgeous colour choices, that pop of yellow is sure to brighten up the coming fall and winter season.

    Reply

  2. Kelly

    It’s beautiful! I love the colour combo!
    I’ve been wanting to knit a striped study too but just haven’t got around to it. Can’t wait to see what colours you choose.

    Reply

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