I have changed the pattern a lot … more on that later. I chose the German Twisted Cast On because it is so stretchy.

The yarns may or may not be full skeins, but with a total cost of $1.98 plus tax = $2.06 who cares? The Jasper is a variety of long stretches of color in a 100% merino wool single which will work for my spit-splice joins. The color is mostly chocolate, with small amounts of rust and taupe. The Rios is also 100% merino wool but in a superwash so my spit splicing has to overlap at leas 4 inches. It appears to be a two-ply. The Soft Shetland is 100% fine Shetland wool with an interesting appearance. It seems to be a single ply of Loden (a dark greyed forest green) plied with a single ply of a purplish chocolate Brown.

Now for the pattern. The designer chose five triangular repeats that each increase by a single stitch in each repeat every other row. I decided to add some mayhem to see what I get.

First change, the edge. The author uses Garter Stitch, which leaves knotty bumps at the edge. I added a stitch each side for a twisted chain edge which lies smoother and negates the need for the instructions to be careful to keep the edge stitch loose. The first stitch of every row is to be slipped knitwise with yarn in back, the last stitch of every row is purled. If this is the only change you wish to make, cast on 62 instead of 60.

Second Because the pattern is written for a lace weight yarn and I am using much heavier yarns, I cast on for three repeats, not five. As the author kindly provided the repeat information, this means that I am casting on 40 instead of 62. I would guess that if I chose a DK weight yarn, I would swatch four repeats or 51 stitches. (Keep in mind that these stitch counts are two higher than the author would recommend because of my slipped stitch edge. )

Now here’s my huge change. MAYHEM ensues. After row 18 (the last row of the chart). I jumped from three repeats to six. The change isn’t obvious because this is where I changed from browns to black. I wrote this explanation so it works for doubling any number of repeats. Here’s how:
Row 19 - slip the first stitch knitwise, (skip this one if you are not using my twisted chain edge) knit 2 (end of selvage). * Work the next 8 stitches (count includes the yarnover increases so it consumes the first five stitches) YO K1 YO K2 YO K2. Now to mirror the faggoting, work the next six stitches (count includes the yarn over increases so it consumes the next four stitches) as K1 YO K1 YO K2. The rest of the repeat is just like row 1: YO K1 YO K2 YO K2 K2Tog YO K1 YO K1 K2Tog. Repeat from * until four stitches remain (three if you are not using my twisted chain edge). End the same way as all other right side rows YO SSK K1 P1. (Skip the P1 if not using the twisted chain edge.)
Row 20 Slip the first stitch knitwise (skip this if not using the Twisted Chain Edge) K1 P2 * * P2Tog P3 P2Tog P7, repeat from * * until the last three stitches (2 if you are not using my twisted chain edge) K2 P1.

The elegant part of this (elegant in the sense that engineers use the term as well). Is that from now on we can resume with row three of the chart.

The next time I come to row eighteen I have a choice. I can again double the number of repeats by repeating rows 19-20 then rows 3-18 again, or I can work blithely on increasing one stitch per repeat as I have been doing all along as the author intended.

If I have enough black, I will not switch to the Soft Shetland until the second time I finish row 18. I plan to save enough black for a few rows of it between the end of the Soft Shetland and resuming the Jasper for the big finish. I want to make this shawl as large as possible with the yarn I have.

Later on the same day:
I decided I don’t want to be increasing 12 stitches every two rows so I am sticking with six pattern repeats. The next time I got to row 18 I just switched to the Soft Shetland, which is such a grabby wool that the Superwash merino spliced beautifully with it. I can also tell the difference in how much more difficult the stitches are to slide along my bamboo circular needle tips.

Anyway, I am past the chart. My pattern notes now read:
Right Side Row 19 (21, 23, 25, …) Slip one knitwise with yarn in back, K2, * YO K1 YO K2 YO K11 (12, 13, 14,…) K2Tog, YO K1 YO K1 K2Tog, repeat from * until four stitches remain, YO SSK K1 P1.
Wrong side row 20 (22, 24, 26…) slip one knitwise with yarn in back, K1, P2, * P2Tog, P3, P2Tog, P16 (17, 18, 19,…) repeat from * until 3 stitches remain, K2, P1.
Total 133 (139, 145, 151,…) stitches.

A week later … The app is interpreting my asterisks as places to begin and end italics. I attempted to edit by choosing double asterisks in the hope that at least one will show, and got bold text. Now I am trying a space between asterisks which works as long as I don’t mind the italics.

I used the entire skein of Soft Shetland and I am back to the Rios. The different breeds of sheep’s wool are obvious to the touch but since I don’t intend to wear this against my skin I don’t much care.

I have passed the point where I purl 22 on each section of a wrong side row which means that I have 169 stitches. I have been thinking about how to finish. I plan to use up the black Rios and most of the Jasper. The original pattern is vague and the ruffle offered as an addendum doesn’t seem to fit the coarseness of the yarns. I may just work the last few rows in Plain Garter Stitch and bind off with Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off on the right side in Purl.