Goldstream Shawl

Goldstream is a half pi shawl that I designed as the first pattern in the Gauge Dye Works Summer 2017 Yarn & Pattern club. I've been holding back in sharing these photos to avoid spoiling it for club members, but now that just about everyone in the club should have their yarn and pattern I'm excited to write about it! This pattern won't be available to the public until next summer, so if you didn't join the club, put it in your queue, but you'll need to be patient.

PROCESS

This pattern, along with the upcoming club patterns, was a true collaboration in a way that I've never done before. Catherine, the color genius behind Gauge Dye Works, met with me regularly so we could plan, then adjust and modify our ideas. We started with Pinterest boards to get the mood for the project. Then Catherine selected a few of my sketches and dyed some yarn. After playing around with it, I wanted a few modifications ("a little more cowbell," as Catherine put it), so she dyed me a new skein of yarn and I started again. I love the result and it feels particularly special to have worked so closely with another local business woman to make it happen. I also have to give big thanks to our photographer, Kelly Brown for the gorgeous images. 

THE DESIGN

Goldstream is a classic half pi shawl worked entirely in garter stitch with small short row sections that create the striking gold "leaves." This shawl could be worked in any yarn (and instructions for doing so are included in the pattern), but the real fun of this design is that the yarn does most of the work. The colors fade from grey to green and the gold sections appear periodically as an announcement that it's time to work a short row section. It's important to keep track of your rows so you can be sure and work your increases on the right rows, but the yarn will tell you when it's time to work a leaf, making the project addicting and mesmerizing. 

Because no two skeins of yarn will be exactly alike and because no two knitters will work it in exactly the same way (hello, gauge!), each shawl will be unique. To see what club members have been up to, check out this spoiler thread in the Gauge Dye Works Ravelry group.