Your Finished Object: Starfall Shawl

Pattern and designer Radiata by Nim Teasdale (@nimble_knits).

Fiber Merino with Angelina.

Wheel system/spindle Kromski Polonaise.

Drafting method Woolen long draw.

Singles direction Z-twist.

Ply wraps per inch 14–16.

Total yardage About 750 yards.

Yarn classification/weight Fingering.

Yardage used About 750 yards plus 1 yard.

Needles Size 5 (3.75 mm).

Finished size 42" diameter.

The author and her blue-ribbon shawl.

Anyone who knows me knows that stars and moons and gradients are my thing. For years, I’d been talking about knitting a night sky that I could wear, but it was a challenge I never seemed prepared to take on. I had a set of gradient fibers sitting in my secret stash—because of course I have to stash favorite fiber—that was too pretty to use. Then one day, I decided out of the blue that it was its turn on the wheel.

Precious secret-stash fiber turned into a beautiful gradient fingering yarn.

I spun the yarn in spring of 2022, but then it sat on my shelf until late fall because, like the fiber, it was too perfect to use. But I wanted to show the world this incredible yarn, and carrying it around in a bag and shaking it at strangers seemed a little too weird, even for me. Shawls are some of my favorite things to make, so I searched for a pattern that was complex enough to be interesting but not so much that it would clash with the complexity of the yarn. Radiata was perfect: it fit a range of sizes, the geometry felt mystical, and it was pointy like the little star sequins that I had scattered throughout my yarn.

Emilia scattered star sequins throughout the yarn.

My favorite part of the project was creating the yarn itself, watching the colors blend into a gradient, and then I loved watching my knitting change colors as I worked. The challenge while spinning was mapping out the singles to overlap in a way that made the gradient as smooth as possible; while knitting, it was figuring out how to use up the whole skein to get the gradient effect to the max.

I made it halfway through the medium-sized pattern using a size 4 circular needle before I realized it felt too cramped and that I would have way too much yarn left over—unacceptable. So, one night in November, I frogged and cried and frogged some more.

Finally! On the blocking mat.

The next morning, I reskeined, rewound, and restarted with a size large pattern and a size 5 needle. I worked diligently through December and, finally, just before Christmas, I lost at yarn chicken by 14 bind-off stitches. I grabbed the closest matching navy roving I had and a drop spindle, and I frantically churned out one more yard of yarn. Fourteen stitches, a blocking board, and two days later, my favorite project—inspired by the night sky during the coldest days of winter when the moon and stars shine the brightest—was complete and better than I’d ever dreamed. I have since entered this shawl in the Texas State Fair, and I’m pleased to say it won a blue ribbon!

This article was first published in Spin Off Spring 2024.

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Emilia Vasnin is a knitter, spinner, and carder living in Dallas, Texas. She fell in love with wool over 10 years ago at a local Renaissance fair. When she’s not working on her handspun, she’s caring for her two horses (very hairy) and her cat (hairless).

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