FO Tuesday: Dream in Color Shrug

The 2008 Finished Object parade continues, with this little number I whipped up in July and never even mentioned. It is really and truly completed, but the only photo I have is when I still needed to weave in the ends:

Pattern: Dream in Color Shrug by Dream in Color Designs (Ravelry Link)

Yarn: Dream in Color Classy in Ruby River, 1.5 ish hanks on size #8 needles

Started July 16, Completed July 28

This was an experiment – I couldn’t imagine ever wearing a shrug, but I had 2 hanks of this yarn on hand, and the pattern looked fun, so I gave it a try. Basically, you knit a big rectangle, then sew up the “sleeves” for a few inches. From there, you pick up and knit around the remaining, um, hole(?) and voila! You have a shrug. I’ve never picked up stitches for ribbing on buttonbands or neckbands before, so this was a first, and it wasn’t hard at all. My seaming looks pretty good, too. I still haven’t worn it – I suspect that it would look better on me if I were a little, well, smaller. So it’s in the drawer for now.

I’ve heard nothing but good things about this yarn, and I have to agree, they are true. It’s very soft, but has enough strength that I don’t feel like the final object will grow enormously (maybe slightly, but not as much as many other superwash yarns).  The biggest bonus for me is the veil-dying technique Dream in Color uses to dye their yarn. It’s still hand-dyed, but their semi-solid colorways don’t pool or stripe, so you can focus on the finished object rather than the strange patch of blue running down the sleeve of your sweater (for example). I’m a huge fan of their yarns, and someday I hope to save enough pennies to purchase a sweater’s worth.

In the meantime, did you see that I’m offering some Dream in Color Smooshy, the sock yarn weight yarn, in my Bowl for Kid’s Sake Raffle? There’s still plenty of time to enter if you’d like to be in the running for some fabulous yarn, while helping kids at the same time! What are you waiting for?