I finished my Drachenfels Shawl! Can you believe it? Honestly, this project went quick for me, but I feel like it has appeared on this blog for a long time.
The usual details first:
Pattern: Drachenfels / Melanie Berg
Yarn: Suburban Stitcher / Single Sock / Darkest Hour, Clementine and Sweet Adeline
Needles: Size 4
Cast on: 3/18/2020
Cast off: 7/6/2020
The pattern page on Ravelry can be found here.
I started this project for a couple of reasons. The first is that I’ve admired this pattern for a very long time and it finally felt like the right time to knit it. The second is that I have had these three skeins of yarn in my stash for a few years with the plans to knit a 3 color shawl with them.
I cast this on with the intention of it being a nice and easy garter stitch shawl that I could work on here and there, primarily while reading. It really worked out well for me and I’m craving casting on another one, which is a rare occurrence for me. In fact, this is one of my favorite knits and finished objects for a long time.
I think part of that is that there really was no pressure for it. A lot of my recent projects have been samples for my own hand dyed yarn, which I always want to finish up quickly so I can start sharing them and having examples of how my yarn works up. I also recently did a test knit, which also has some pressure to it.
With the shawl, I didn’t have to worry about the size of it, the perfection in it and I could just simply, knit. I also used it as a reason to pick up my reading habits and it worked wonders. I’ve been reading more consistently and starting my day off with some quiet time instead of jumping right into work.
I’ve said this a bunch of times, but I’m obsessed with the color combination for this shawl. Coral is one of my favorite colors and pairing it with a navy just makes me the happiest knitter. The cream and coral speckled yarn just tied it all together really well.
The pattern is designed where you start with the darkest color, then introduce the lightest color and then use the medium color as color 3. I actually switched this without realizing and went from darkest to lightest. Since the navy is just so much darker than both of the other colors, I had great contrast in the beginning and now get to enjoy having the navy and color striped together.
The shawl is knit starting from one tip and then increasing regularly for the entirety of the shawl. You never decrease and that bind off is the entire third side of the triangle. It’s basically all garter stitch except for a bit of slipped stitches. If you are a newer knitter, absolutely go cast this shawl on!
I will be living in this shawl this winter for sure. I explain this more in the video on my YouTube channel, but I definitely find that I gravitate towards my garter stitch and brioche shawls on cold days. Stockinette shawls, particularly in fingering weight, are great accessories, but they don’t necessarily protect from cold wind during the winter months. Garter stitch shawls seem to just be that much more warm and cozier. I think the colors in this will go well with a lot and I’m excited for when I can wear this comfortably.
Overall, such a great pattern and I wouldn’t be surprised if you see this soon in one of my own three color shawl pairings.
Check out more and see it in person here: