Overall Thoughts:

Started this because I liked the yarn and the pattern, and had no idea what I would do with it (yellow is not normally a color I wear). I passed it along it to the lady referenced in this project; whether she keeps it or it goes to the raffle, that feels like the right place for it.

Difficulty rating is entirely for the cast-on. More detail about what sort of cast-on to use in order to achieve 1” between stitches would have been appreciated; my standard is a long-tail cast-on and I just could. Not. Get it to do that. (I used a slipknot cast-on similar to this one.)

Planned to have gold thread highlighting inner row of rays. This turned out to be a good idea in theory, not so much in execution. A spool of thread is actually pretty short when compared to a skein of yarn, and holding it double with the yarn is more difficult to make work correctly than it sounds.

Turned out gorgeous. Love love love this yarn. Model in final finished-product photos is my daughter, who desperately wanted to try it on before I gave it away.

Full Log:

31 May 2014: Just swatching for right now; not planning on starting actual shawl work until Swirling Sands socks are done. I want to try the effect of holding gold thread with the yarn, and see how the gauge works out. I have plenty of extra yarn if I want to make it a bit tighter.

01 June 2014: Very minimal swatch done. I can never quite bring myself to stick with swatching for more than a couple of inches. The gold accent is more subtle than I’d thought it would be, and the thread is difficult to corral at times. Will give some thought to using very lightweight metallic yarn instead (my LYS has some--I think maybe it’s this?). Gauge looks OK for a nice lightweight shawl. I suspect I will keep it at size 10 and not go up to 11 (except maybe for the bind-off).

03 June 2014: Got the gold yarn, swatched. Photo attached. (Thread on the left--you may have to view full-size to see the gold.) The visual effect of the yarn is more what I’d had in mind, but the metallic poly/rayon blend makes the fabric scratchier. Requires careful thought and decision.

15 June 2014: OK, OK, I lied. I did start on it over vacation. Decided on the more subtle thread. I have several loops of it sticking out on the wrong side--not sure what I’m going to do about those. :( Used a slipknot cast-on because I couldn’t figure out how to get an inch between stitches any other way. I’m through the setup and transition, just starting on the chart.

11 July 2014: Through first repeat of the chart. The gold thread lasted me about halfway through, was not able to carry it down to the points the way I had intended. I have not changed to size 11 needles. Wondering if this was a good decision--it may affect how much the end result looks like sun-rays, and also the whole shape of the thing. (I do plan to move up to do the feather-and-fan border.) We shall see…

18 August 2014: After a brief break for knitting D’s christening presents, I’m most of the way through binding off; will finish tonight. Used size 11 tips for feather-and-fan border and bind-off only. The first skein of yarn lasted me all the way into the bind-off row; very very little of the second will be used.