The Amazing Mother's Day Self-Striping Yarn Shawl

I see this pattern for a shawl on lionbrand.com and it calls for using six skeins of “Amazing” self-striping yarn. The pattern seems easy and I am fascinated by how self-striping yarns work to produce such an even, non-random pattern. I decide to knit one for my mom for Mother’s Day who is always cold when she comes to my house.

They say the skin thins as we get older making it harder to stay warm.

Another thing to eagerly anticipate.

Anyway, first I decide to investigate this self-striping business (maybe I’m just dense and the rest of the world gets it). Here are my search terms:

The first result is from one of my reliable go-to answer sites, about.com. They tell me that “self-striping yarn is yarn that is dyed in a specific, technical manner to ensure (or at least make it pretty likely) that the color changes will line up more or less in stripes along the knitted fabric.” They also say the yarn works best on projects using simple patterns, such as the stockinette stitch. So glad that I decided to follow the Lion Brand pattern instructions or I may be giving my mom a jagged mess – although I suspect that she would love anything I knitted for her. I used five balls of Lion Brand Amazing's self-striping yarn in the Glacier Bay color so it's not as long as the pattern calls for.

Redwood Shawl
Lion Brand® Amazing®
Cast on 81 stitches.
Row 1: Knit 1, *purl 1, knit 1; repeat from * across.
Row 2: Knit.
Repeat Rows 1 and 2 until about 2 yds (2 m) of yarn remains. Bind off. Weave in ends.

Here is my finished shawl. Lion Brand touts that this line of yarns “creates gorgeous color combinations without changing yarns.” I agree and would love to hear what you think. I think my mom will love it and I won’t have to turn my thermostat up to 80º the next time she visits!

This shawl was truly a labor of love (because of the stitch repetition especially considering the length and width) and --bonus -- it's been to Ireland! For an Irish lass, that will make this gift even more special. I knitted on the plane to pass the time.

Incidently, some of the search results showed how to dye your own self-striping yarn.

That would be pushing it…besides, I don’t own any sheep.

My next project is a felted clutch....it should be done by Christmas!