You may have noticed that the frequency of my posts (which was already lacking) has taken a nose dive for the worst. The holiday season is upon us, meaning most of what I’m knitting, crocheting, cross-stitching, or even painting (shhh, spoiler alert) are for gifts. The good news is that I’ll slobber you Christmas week with posts about everything I’ve been up to since August, but for now, you’ll have to settle for Stephen West MKALs.
Like this Starflake I finished in September. Starflake was last year’s Westknits MKAL, but I didn’t cast mine on until March after my last in-person yarn shop visit to Yarnphoria in Philadelphia. My go-to shop is Loop, but I wanted to check out a new place while we were brewery and gallery hopping, so I googled this place and was immediately in love. The owner also has an adorable little dog that clearly gets zero pets (and by zero pets, I mean everyone loves her and she gets more attention than the yarn).
Because I knew we’d be stopping by, I spent the car ride down looking for patterns so I knew exactly what yarn I wanted to add to my stash - mostly so it didn’t end up in my stash and instead ended up in the project itself. I’m not sure I even knew Starflake was a Stephen West pattern when it popped up in my search results, but as soon as I saw it, I knew I needed to have it.
It took me forever to pick out what yarn I wanted to use because there were approximately 4,875 colorway combinations I was attracted to, but I eventually more-than-settled on Three Irish Girls Cavan Fingering in Day Glo and Black Trillium Fibre Studio Vale in Moonshadow (it’s sparkly!)
In typical WestKnits fashion, this thing is huge, making it super warm for when we sit outside at breweries while we can (before another lockdown). Additionally, it’s plain old freaking gorgeous. We hit up the downtown holiday market yesterday (masks in tow, of course) and I got complimented on it twice in 30 minutes. I’ve also worn it multiple times to one of our new favorite breweries (McCall Collective Brewing), and I think they’ve started recognizing me by my yarn bag #alwaysbeknitting
As with any Stephen West pattern, it’s a labor of love. You’ve got nearly 700 stitches on your circs by the last row (I’m in for a treat with his current MKAL, which has over 900 by the end), so it’s a LOT of knitting, but as always, the pattern is clear and he provides plenty of tutorial videos in case you forget what you’re doing. I can’t recommend it enough and am thinking about casting on this shawl’s big sister - the Starflanket - in the new year.
Project Details
Pattern: Starflake by Stephen West
Yarn: Three Irish Girls Cavan Fingering in Day Glo and Black Trillium Fibre Studio Vale in Moonshadow
Speaking of Stephen West, let’s all have a moment of silence for my first ever WestKnits completed project, Exploration Station, that succumbed to moths in my old house and met a swift end in the trash while moving more junk a couple weekends ago. I was literally in tears.
It goes without saying that my new craft room will have so many cedar blocks and lavender sachets that I’m going to start smelling like a twee German fairytale forest. If anyone has other recommendations for how to keep the moths at bay, let me know. I lost so much stash and other beloved projects to moths and I have no idea how they even got into my house (and the traps only work so much). I’m sad that my love of natural hand-dyed fibers essentially became money down the drain.
