I finally finished my Nightshift Shawl by Andrea Mowry. This shawl took me a lot longer to knit than I planned, but I’m really happy with the finished product. Keep reading for my experience knitting the Nightshift shawl:
I kept seeing so many beautiful projects that used Spincycle Yarn and I wanted to knit a project that used this unique yarn. I found the Nightshift Shawl pattern that recommended Spincycle Yarn and seemed like a popular project to knit.
Spincycle Yarn
The Nightshift Shawl recommends 6 skeins of Spincycle Yarns in their Dream State base. I had never used Spincycle yarn before, but I wanted to try it to achieve a similar look to the designer’s shawl. I went to the Spincycle website and was a little confused about their colorways at first.
Each colorway on the Spincycle site has multiple pictures of how drastically different each skein can look. So, even though it’s the same colorway, each skein will have its own look. I really liked some examples of a colorway, but not others. I felt a little overwhelmed about how to pick my color palette online with the risk of getting colors what were wildly different than I wanted.
Eventually, I ordered my skeins through a stockist in my area and I was happy with the skeins I received. I ordered 7 colors because I couldn’t narrow it down to the 6 called for.
All of the colors have a similar hue to me. Most skeins have a darker vein plied in so they gave me thanksgiving/fall vibes. I thought they would work well together for my shawl.
Spincycle First Impressions
When my yarn arrived, I thought it was really pretty. I love the plied multi-color twist throughout each skein.
The yarn seemed thinner than I was expecting it to be. Dream State is their worsted base, but I felt like the yarn I received was maybe a DK weight or even more like a sport weight. It has areas of thick and thin which give it a more handspun feel.
I was also a little disappointed with the yardage I got. I didn’t realize when I ordered, but each skein is only 150 yards. The Nightshift Shawl looks to be a large size, so I was confused how even 6 skeins was going to be enough.
Spincycle Dream State Alternatives
Each of my Spincycle Dream State yarns was $34 which is pretty pricey especially considering how little yardage you get. Of course you can knit the Nightshift in any yarn, and I started researching for less expensive yarns that had the hand-spun twist look just to see what was available.
Yarnsub.com is a great place to start if you are looking for alternatives to a recommended yarn. I searched for yarns similar to Dream State, but they didn’t have the same multi-color ply. Next, I searched Ravelry for yarns that others used to make their Nightshift.
- Chroma Twist is a worsted yarn with a similar hand-spun look. You can get a ball 100 g/198 yards for $12
- Zauberwolle is a sport weight, but is $13 for a 50g/164 yard ball
- Noro Ito is a worsted weight. It’s $50, but you get 437 yards
- Superwash Wave is a worsted yarn with 100g/220 yards for $12.50
- Etsy has a lot of sellers with similar yarns in various prices
So there are a few Spincycle substitutions out there that are super popular and much more cost effective if you’re looking for a spincycle alternative.
Nightshift Shawl
The Nightshift Shawl is an asymmetrical triangle shawl that uses mosaic knitting to create a fun, color-changing effect. The color changes are accentuated by the recommended Spincycle Yarn to create multiple color shifts throughout the shawl.
I’d done some mosaic knitting before (in my Hiberknitting Cowl, Fantastitch, and Penguono), so I wasn’t sure I even wanted/needed to buy this pattern. It seemed like a basic pattern repeat with an increase on one side; I thought I could probably freestyle it and come pretty close. But when Andrea Mowry had a birthday sale, I decided to give the pattern a try. This is my first DreaReneeKnits pattern and I was excited to knit such a popular pattern in the recommended Spincycle Yarn.
Cast On
I cast on with my US 8 needles on a 37″ cable to start, using Heart Sigh as my Color A and Cataclysm as Color B. I didn’t love how the dark brown/pink combination of Color A with the dark/green Color B was looking. It felt like the green slip stitches were getting lost and the colors weren’t very crisp.
I ripped everything back and started over with new color assignments:
Color Assignments:
- Color A – Neveruary
- Color B – Rusted Rainbow
- Color C – Salty Dog
- Color D – Cataclysm
- Color E – Heart Sigh
- Color F – Nostalgia
- Bonus – Stay Ready
Slip Stitch Repeats
The pattern gives you a recipe to swap colors and create your own assignments, and also directions with specific color placements. I started out following the specific color placement directions, but ended up making a few changes for better contrast along the way.
The slip stitch repeat pattern is very easy and relaxing. You don’t have to think about it too much, so it was nice to work on into the evening as I started to wind down.
I used a stitch marker after the first three stitches, and before the last three stitches to help track where to work the faux I-cord edge.
M1R – Increases
Probably the trickiest part in this whole shawl is picking up the correct bar for the M1R increases. I found it easier to just look for the bar that was the same color as the first three knit stitches. That seemed to create the most comfortable increase and it looked really clean and nice.
I usually like to weave in my ends as I go, but I found that trying to secure the ends while knitting made it difficult when trying to find the correct M1R bar. So I left all my ends out until I finished the shawl.
Color Changes
Section 8 of the Nightshift Shawl called for colors E and B together, but I wasn’t getting the contrast I wanted from Heart Sigh and Rusted Rainbow. I tinked back and reknit the section using Neveruary (color A) and Rusted Rainbow (color B).
I really liked the A & B combination, but I was running low on color A. So I started using color B and color C; the next sections’ combination.
Taking A Break
I wasn’t loving how my Nightshift was progressing. The hand-spun look of the Spincycle Yarns is really pretty especially in the skein, but it was looking pretty muddy in some areas where the background marl is competing with the slip stitches. I was finding the pattern repetitive and since the colors weren’t working for me, I decided to take a break.
I stored my shawl in a project bag and my small break turned into nine months. I felt bad that I wasn’t excited about my Nightshift. I had spent a lot of money on the Spincycle yarn but I wasn’t loving the result. I considered frogging the project, but the Spincycle yarn has such a unique look that I didn’t know what other project I could use it in.
During my break from the Nightshift, I worked on a lot of fun projects — three shawls, a stuffed toy, a bag, a blanket, and two sweaters. Finally, after knitting my Pastel Green Fantastitch Dream, I decided to finish out my languishing WIPs and clear my needles so I could be ready for the next Westknits MKAL.
Coming Back to the Nightshift
After such a long break, I felt ready to knock out this WIP. I track all of my patterns in my iPad, so I was able to pull up my pattern and see where I’d left off pretty easily.
Since I was still unsure about how I could use this Spincycle yarn in any other project, I decided that I was going to use up all my yarn in this Nightshift (including the extra 7th skein I’d bought).
With my new goal to focus solely on this shawl project until I used up all of the Spincycle yarn, I started using whatever colors I felt looked best.
I switched to a 50″ cable and continued with the slip stitch formula, but used my own color combinations. Once I added in the yellow, my entire opinion of my shawl had changed. All of the sudden, it looked a lot more cohesive to me. The yellow section was exactly what I was missing.
After I finished the pattern repeats, I still had a good amount of yarn left, so I repeated a full section 10 repeat and then another round of the single slip stitches. I didn’t think I had enough yarn of any other colors to complete another section, so I finished out as much as I could before moving to the bind off. I did a single-color bind off since I had so much of the Color E remaining.
I made a small purse for my niece with my leftover Spincycle Yarn. I used just about everything I had for the purse except a tiny bit of the orange and a fair amount of the pink.
Blocking + Finishing
Blocking really transforms the shawl. With everything stretched/smoothed out, the Nightshift really shines.
My blocked shawl matches exactly to the pattern’s dimensions (65″ wingspan/31″ center depth). I just took a gauge swatch and I got 21sts, 22 rows in pattern, blocked over 4 inches. I am confused how I matched dimensions exactly when I had done an entire section repeat and a half more than the pattern called for, and I also brought in another full skein.
Either way, I guess it worked out for me since I’m happy with my shawl size and the colors.
Overall Thoughts
This was my first pattern from DreaReneeKnits. I thought it was well-written and clearly laid out. The techniques in the pattern were really easy so I feel like the design value came mostly from the color placement recommendations. This was my first time using Spincycle Yarns and while I thought they were super pretty, I don’t think the value is there for me.
Spincycle yarns are really unique and they can look great in some projects. I wasn’t super in love with my shawl until I deviated from the pattern recommendations and incorporated more of the Salty Dog color. The slip stitches combined with the plied/handspun look of Spincycle yarns give the shawl an overall marled/scrappy look. I love using my left over yarns in a stash-busting project to get a marled look, but for $34 a skein, I want more control over my colors.
If I were to re-knit this project out of Spincycle, I would look for skeins that were more one-color overall vs contrasting colors barberpole plied together. I would also try to pick out my colors in person. The hand-spun look is really unique and from far away, I think my shawl looks pretty. But while I was knitting/up close, I wasn’t happy with the look I was getting.
I do appreciate how the Spincycle Yarn’s color changes are longer/less frequent than if I just used two yarns held together. I think the longer color blocks create a really pretty shift. I think the Spincycle looks best in patterns where it’s used for the colorwork on a solid background.
Overall, I am happy with my Nightshift shawl, but I’m disappointed in the cost/value of the Spincycle Yarn. At this time, I don’t see myself purchasing it again, but I’m glad I got to try it out for myself.
I am glad I finally finished out this shawl. Once I picked it back up, it wasn’t long before I was done and blocking it. I wish I had completed it sooner instead of dreading it and letting it linger.
Check out my Ravelry page to see more pictures of my Nightshift Shawl or my other finished projects. Sign up for my Newsletter for my knitting progress and other updates.
