Speaking of chickens

If you are looking for knitting that brings you suspense! excitement! anxiety!, a project that keeps you on the edge of your seat 4 times as you watch the balls of yarn get smaller and smaller with each passing row, I will steer you toward the Andy shawl:

I totally won at yarn chicken in this, 4 times, ha! I have a yarn butterfly each of the gold and aqua yarns, and only a wee bit more each of the pale gray and pink, remaining. This is my first project with mini skeins and I’m not sure I can handle this level of excitement a second time, because yarn chicken comes with risks: you never know whether you will beat the chicken, or it will beat you.

I bought the pattern and yarn as a kit, together with project bag, at Stitches West in February. The kit colors differ from the pattern colors and I printed the pattern in black and white, so I took a black-and-white photo of the yarns to help me choose the order in which to knit the colors:

CC1 in the original colors is the darkest. For me, that was Wish You Were Beer (gold).
CC2 is 2nd lightest: Barbie Girl (pink).
CC3 is lightest: Jackie O (pale gray).
CC4 is 2nd darkest: Set Sail (aqua).

This shawl starts at the top with a garter tab and works out to the point. The pattern has you change the order of the colors in the third color section, I presume so you can have enough of CC1 to finish the border. The designer contradicts herself on page 2, stating gauge is important and is not important; I can clarify that gauge is important if you have these particular mini skeins and intend to have enough yarn to finish, not important if you have more yarn. In that case, as usual with shawls, your gauge is perfect if you like the drape of what’s coming off the needles.

Pattern: Andy by Laura Dobratz (Ravelry link) — I used version 3 of the pattern.
Yarn: Emma’s Yarn in two put-ups, 80% merino, 10% cashmere, 10% nylon.
Main color: Hella Hank (large): .9 skein, 135g / 540 yards of Thanks 4 Noticing Me.
Contrasting colors: Practically Perfect Smalls: nearly all of 20g / 87 yards each of Wish You Were Beer, Barbie Girl, Jackie O, Set Sail.
Needles: US size 6
Size: 72″ across and 25″ tall
Started 7/31 and finished 8/13/2020

Two minor deviations from the pattern: I worked row two of the main color’s border section in knit instead of purl (to make a narrow garter stitch edge instead of stockinette), and I didn’t pin out the picot points when blocking because I don’t have a large enough blocking surface, so they curl a bit. The pattern is written out, not charted, and I needed a marker only on the center stitch. I found it helpful to circle the (k1) that was the center stitch to help me keep my place.

The shawl is a size I like, is soft and comfortable, and reminds me of ice cream with caramel sauce.