The Stashbuckler

One of the new knitting trends, particularly in the summers, is for knitting designers to release “Mystery Shawls.”  Basically you pay for the pattern and the designer releases the pattern in installments, usually over a several week period, and calls them “clues.”  Up front they give you some basic ideas of the shawl (i.e. triangular, circular, two-color) and your yarn requirements and off you go.
Except, if you know me, I hate surprises. Loathe them. So I almost never buy a mystery project until it’s complete. It’s not meant as an offense to the designer, but I just don’t like buying a pattern unless I know what it will look like.

So this summer, after everyone around me got caught up in the latest Stephen West Mystery Shawl (Code name: Rockefeller) I wanted to join in the fun, but didn’t want to knit the mystery shawl. What’s a girl to do? I picked another one of his patterns that I had been wanting to knit for a while and I knit along with the other folks. I ended up with what I have called Tequila Sunrise.

Pattern: Daybreak by Stephen West

The Yarn: Madelinetosh Pashmina in Magenta and Squoosh Handspun in Garden Party

The Needles: US 6

The Verdict: I’m not 100% happy with my color choice here – I almost wish I had chosen a slightly darker shade of the Pashmina. While it looks great in the skeins, all knit up it was not quite as much contrast as I’d hoped for. I did love knitting with the Pashmina (so soft!) and the handspun was a delight – I always love seeing those color changes.  I do predict I’ll get a lot of wear out of this one!