When the Quirky Quintet Shawl by Stephen West was released, I was really excited because it has a similar look to the Fantastitch (my favorite shawl pattern). I thought this would be a fun pattern to knit so I gathered my left over yarns to make a stash-busting version. Keep reading for my experience knitting the Quirky Quintet!
YARN
The Quirky Quintet pattern calls for five colors to knit sections of slip stitches, stripes, and textures. I knit a stash-busting version which used a lot of my yarns left over from recent projects. This shawls uses left overs of:
- Noir – Twist Nouveau: La Bien Aimee
- Electric Orchid – Baby Paca: The Wandering Flock
- Strawberry – Melted Baby Suri: Qing Fibre
- Lemon Drop – Merino HT Fingering: Moon Drake Co.
- Champagne – Melted Baby Suri: Qing Fibre
- Telang – Baby Paca: The Wandering Flock
- As If – Kumo: La Bien Aimee
- Hero – Melted Baby Suri: Qing Fibre
- Yellow Tulip – Merino HT Fingering: Moon Drake Co.
- Neon Pink – Baby Paca: The Wandering Flock
- Wisteria – Sock: Hedgehog Fibres
- Shamrock – Sock: Hedgehog Fibres
- Goldenrod – Classic Sock: Spun Right Round
- Baby Green – Merino HT Fingering: Moon Drake Co.
- Hint of Mint – Mohair Fluff Lace: Zakami
- Wish – Sock: Hedgehog Fibres
- Summer Sorbet – KidMohair: Walk Collection
- White 5682 – Heritage: Cascade
QUIRKY QUINTET SHAWL
I cast on with my Chiaogoo interchangeable US 4 needles with a 50″ cable. I started the I-cord tab cast on in the Telang color by The Wandering Flock. I really like this color because it’s a crisp, bright but dusty blue. I really liked how the garter stitch was looking in the Baby Paca base.
Moving on to the slip stitch columns, I wanted to use some contrasting colors to the blue. I used Baby Green and Wish for an overall green section. I love starting a new shawl and seeing the colors knit up together for the first time. Since I had knit a blue and green section, I thought it would be nice to use a yellow and start a little rainbow for the next section.
I used Goldenrod for the purl ridge stripe, Yellow Tulip for the seed stitch section, and then As If + Neon Pink for the slip stitch triangles. I had a loose rainbow going and I wanted to try to repeat that color pattern throughout the rest of the shawl. I knit the next stripe in Noir, and then started up the rainbow pattern for the next sections.
I had a lot of fun knitting the different sections and getting to use my leftover yarns. Since I was using up partial skeins and scraps, I occasionally had to change yarns mid-section because I’d run out of a color. I actually really like that because it means I used up every last bit of a color, and it makes my knitting extra unique. If I did need to change yarn, I tried to pick a yarn in the same color family to continue with the loose rainbow theme.
Here’s a look at my completed shawl before blocking^. I loved knitting this shawl and giving life to my left over yarns.
I washed this shawl in cool water and a little soap and blocked it with pins on my blocking mats. I only have two sets of blocking mats which is usually fine for my projects, but I wish I had a third set for blocking this shawl. This shawl has a beautiful semi-circular shape and chevron edges, but with only two sets of mats, I didn’t have the room to pin and shape it as evenly as I wanted.
QUIRKY QUINTET FINAL THOUGHTS
Although some of my chevron points aren’t evenly stretched, I am still happy with how my shawl looks. I love the textures and colors. I think the rainbow is more subtle, and it overall just looks really eclectic and sort of scrappy. Even though these are all yarns I’ve used in other shawls, they look really different in this arrangement. Here’s a few close ups:
I really enjoyed knitting the Quirky Quintet shawl and definitely recommend the pattern if you are looking for an engaging knit with lots of textures. Check out my Ravelry page to see my other projects and what I’m working on next!
