Dancing in the Rain (both the shawl and literally dancing in the rain!) is all about happiness, which is conveyed through the lightweight, flowy fabric of the shawl and the bright colors of the yarn. Although I'd knit three shawls before Dancing in the Rain, this shawl is my first shawl pattern design. Naturally, being so excited with the design and the concept, I wanted to fit all of my favorite stitches into the shawl. Although this didn't quite come to fruition (there's a flower stitch that I just *couldn't* make work, which meant I had to start another design as well), this pattern does consist of some of my favorite stitch patterns.
The primarily stitch (which I'm totally obsessed with) featured in this design is the dropped stitch. I love the rain. I love dropped stitches. And dropped stitches remind me of the rain! Dancing in the Rain is named after the dropped stitch sections, which remind me of raindrops and streaming water. I love that dropped stitches are a very simple technique, and although it's not the fastest stitch to work, it is so satisfying to drop those stitches -- and it creates the length of multiple rows of other knitting! I also love that dropped stitches create such a unique look in a knitted fabric -- it's so easily recognizable, even from a distance, because it gives the yarn room to breathe. I love this stitch so much that I've included it in two different forms: as part of the "Rain Drops" section (which includes three rows of shorter dropped stitches) and as part of the "Downpour" section (which consists of just one row of much longer dropped stitches).
The other stitches included in this design include garter (seriously, a staple in every knitter's life, so how could I leave that out?!), a beautiful but simple honeycomb stitch (shown above), and a stunning miniature leaves section that plays so well with the concept of the dropped stitches.
This knit is a fun, addicting asymmetrical triangle that is easily memorized and customizable. It is written for one 2 Mile Series skein of fingering weight yarn, which creates a large but lightweight shawl with a lot of drape.
To purchase the Dancing in the Rain Shawl (or to learn more about the pattern), you can find the pattern on Ravelry, PatternVine, and LoveCrafts Knitting. For color suggestions and affordable yarn recommendations, please visit my other Dancing in the Rain blog post!