The Inclinations Shawl—a Make Nine finish

 My Inclinations Shawl, a stash buster yarn project for Make Nine 2023, is finished (and not without a few froggings)!

Make Nine 2023 finish: yarn stash buster project, the Inclinations Shawl.

This is my second Make Nine 2023 finish, and fulfills the stash buster prompt. You can't go wrong with a stash buster project that also has stripes. It's always an exciting knit!

Inclinations Shawl, a stash buster project. 68" x 42.5"

2-row stripes with variegated yarns

At first, I thought I'd use a monochromatic blue yarn [Classic Shades from Universal Yarn] and interject brighter, more colorful stripes using Poems [Universal Yarn]. However, the more the variegated colors of Poems interacted, I became fond of the colorplay effects achieved within the single skeins.

Starting the Inclinations Shawl.

So, after the Classic Shades skein was used up, I busted through various skeins of Poems and let the colors in this variegated yarn play on its own terms across the rows. This is how the center glow was achieved with the lighter colored skeins of Poems.

Inclinations Shawl showing the lighter colors in the center.

I busted through 10 skeins of yarn from the stash. A nice dent, I'd say.

Over 10 skeins of yarn used.

When the remainder of the 10th skein of Poems was all brown and all the same value, I stopped knitting. By this time, I had 174 stitches on the needle and the shawl was well over 75" on the diagonal side. The last color change was a stripe of bright magenta... and ending on a bright note was my signal to wrap it up.

Striped, I-cord bind-off.

In the pattern, there were several options for a bind-off.  I chose the 2-yarn, striped I-cord version. The bind-off took quie a long time, but well worth the investment. 

Project Stats

Here are the specs for my Inclinations Shawl:

• Over 10 skeins of worsted weight yarn: 9+ skeins of Poems [100% wool, 109 yd, 50g]; and 1 skein of Classic Shades [30% wool, 70% dralon, 197 yd, 100 g]
• finished size: 68" x 42.5" with a hypotenuse of 78" (unblocked)
• size 5 needle
• 174 stitches at the bind-off
• 262 rows.

Frogging did occur!

I had a difficult time figuring out how to fix errors with the half Fisherman's rib stitch. The floats that are created when you knit the stitch below made it confusing for me. I tried a couple of times if I caught an error in one row beneath, but going down several rows was chaos.

Trying to fix mistakes several rows below was not successful.

Frogging did occur. Twice. With about 3 - 4 inches of knitting each time—at the wider side of the shawl. Not fun, but a cleaner result once it was re-knit. Luckily, the "stickiness" of the wool yarn helped preserve the live stitches so it was easier to get them back on the needle after ripping out the rows.

Frogged!

Make Nine 2023 progress: 2 of 9

This is my second Make Nine project for this year. It was finished 3 days prior to the start of The 100 Day Project in which I am participating. 

Make Nine 2023 worksheet: stash buster prompt fulfilled.

My Inclinations Shawl.

I've used this shawl several times already. It's warm yet light weight, squishy and snuggly. I love the color changes and I'm happy to have created something new with stash and leftover yarns.

The Inclinations Shawl: a great start to Make Nine 2023

A "yarn stash" project looks to be my Make Nine stash-buster project this year. Last week, I started knitting the Inclinations Shawl.

Starting the Inclinations Shawl for Make Nine 2023. 

Why I like the Inclinations Shawl for a stash buster knit

I was researching a portable project that was mindful and relaxing. It needed to be something interesting, but not involving a lot of complex brain power—like having to follow a pattern line by line and row by row. The Inclinations Shawl by Andrea Mowry, Drea Renee Knits, was the solution.

The Inclinations Shawl from the Drea Renee Knits web page.

This knit is "perfect in every way" for a portable project that uses leftovers—a stash buster. It's a project that's easy to pick up or put down and work when you have a few minutes here or there. (I actually knit a few rows while waiting in the parking lot for my carry-out this week.) 

This shawl's attributes include:

• colorwork,
• I-cord edges,
• a half Fisherman's rib stitch that elevates the knitting beyond garter stitch,
• an asymmetrical triangular shape,
• a non-critical gauge,
• colorwork that can be customized,
• flexible sizing—make it smaller or larger, as desired (or bind off when you're out of yarn),
• an easy-to-remember pattern in which you can "read the knitting."

With luck, I had several single and partial balls of variegated yarn in my stash that were the same weight and compatible fiber content that could be used—and used up!

This project ticks all the boxes for a Make Nine stash-buster!

Using leftover yarns from the stash

I'm using leftover and partial skeins of worsted weight Poems [100% wool] and Classic Shades [70% / 30% dralon/wool] from Universal Yarn. I've made projects with these variegated yarns in the past and the yarns are easy to work with and feel good in your hands. 

With several lonesome skeins of different colorways, it will be interesting to watch the interchange between the colors as the knitting progresses. I'm anxious to finish off the first skein and join another colorway.

Day 8 progress on the Inclinations Shawl stash buster project.

A plan for a quick finish

As January and February still have colder temps in store for us, I'm planning a fast finish for this shawl—so I can wrap up in this soft, wooly, squishy accessory. 

You know it's cold when there is a 2 or 3 kitty pile-up in the kitty beds.
Stan Leigh and Sox are snuggling together.

An added perk to using these yarns is there will be no tails to weave in. Because of the wool fiber content, the yarn tails can be felted together (or "spit spliced," as knitters affectionately call it) when joining a new skein. Splice... spit... felt... keep on knitting.

What could be faster... and easier??