After what seems like eternity (but was really only four months), I’m proud to announce I’ve finished the slog that was my Dotted Rays shawl.

It doesn’t help that I chose the largest size possible and I’m neither a monogamous knitter nor crafter, but I’m excited with how it turned out (and I’m also excited for it to be done, not gonna lie).

This latest mamma jamma followed us everywhere we went for its lifespan because it was amazing potato chip knitting, perfect for spending long periods of time in the car or at breweries (as we’re wont to do on weekends). I mostly stick to vanilla socks for that purpose, so it’s rare you’ll see my lugging around a massive project bag like I did for this big boy, but it truly was a great portable knit that I can highly recommend for any of your upcoming travels.

What I didn’t like? The literally endless garter stitch. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll know that football fields of garter stitch can lull me to sleep so it’s easy to lose interest in whatever I’m working on before too long. In this case, however, the short rows held my interest just enough to not give up. The shawl is fairly plain with the exception of those short rows (and the two rows following), so it could have been easy to slip into pure boredom - and honestly, I think I was getting to that point. As with most Stephen West shawls, it was so big that it would take 20-30 minutes to knit 1.5 rows and I was thisclose to losing my mind.

BUT! It turned out so well and is perfect for showing off your favorite speckled yarn. I chose this yarn (Hedgehog Fibres Sock in Birthday Cake) specifically because I loved the multi-colored speckles, so the pattern really allowed the yarn to lean into itself. I’m looking forward to cooler weather because a) climate change is starting to freak me out and the wildfires out west are making our local AQI pretty awful and I feel sick all the time but that’s a tangent we don’t need to get into and b) I’ll be able to wear this with a denim jacket and boots and maybe an appropriately-colored flannel.

Yup, I’m basic, but we knew that.

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