How I Made the Nightshift Shawl by Andrea Mowry

This super fun shawl is a large canvas for color play! The pattern, by Andrea Mowry, includes a recipe to make it all your own, or row by row directions for those who want to play it safe!

Using yarn we carry in our store and background yarn from my stash, I was able to make this beautiful shawl for around $35. 

Nightshift by Andrea Mowry

 How I made my shawl

1. Using 47-inch size US #7 circular Chiaogoo needles, I cast on as instructed (see the video below).
2. Remember that this is a slipped-stitch (or mosaic pattern), which means when in doubt, go with a larger sized needle or the fabric you create may be stiff; no amount of blocking will make it soft and squishy!
3. I looked at other ideas for yarn substitutions, as Spincycle Dream State that Andrea suggests in the pattern costs about $180 (six skeins at $30 per skein). While it's wonderful yarn in gorgeous colorways, I wanted to give you a less expensive option.
   
4. I chose a yarn with long color changes to mimic the Spincycle yarn, Zauberball Starke 6. I used color #2092. This is a DK-weight yarn, and I paired it with Ultra Alpaca Light in colors #4281 Redwood Mix, #4205 Dark Chocolate and #42189 Barley. Spincycle Dreamstate is a worsted-weight yarn, so my shawl is smaller than the original pattern. Keep this in mind when you're substituting yarns.
   
5. Hikoo Concentric is a 100% alpaca worsted-weight yarn that is an excellent choice for Night shift because it has long color runs, too.
   

A few customers mentioned that they had difficulty with the cast on for this shawl, so I created a video to help you get started. 

I featured Nightshift in last week's Technique Tuesday Facebook Live. Here's the full replay in case you missed it! We also discussed different circular needles while I was showing the cast-on. 

In this follow-on Technique Tuesday episode, I share more tips on how to finish the Night Shift Shawl so you have a wonderful project that looks great.