Finished Object: Rainbow Dash Shawl

Recently I realized that I don’t talk very much about my own knitting here, and maybe that’s because I knit a lot but I don’t seem to finish a lot. Or it takes me months and months to finish a project I started with great enthusiasm.

I want to both start finishing more projects and talking more about what I’ve been knitting, so to start it off I want to share with you my Rainbow Dash shawl, from a pattern by Benjamin Matthews.

This is a really easy knit — Garter Stitch with increases on every other row — but it did take a little longer than I expected because those rows get really long by the end.

Still, I had a lot of fun knitting it, and it went to a friend of mine who loves rainbows and just started chemo. I definitely want to make one for myself, too.

I knit mine all in wool so it’s super warm and squishy, but the original was worked in cotton yarn and that would be great, too. You can see all the details about mine on my project page on Ravelry.

The pattern is $6 or can be purchased as part of an ebook of 9 patterns for $18.95.

What have you finished lately? I’d love to hear about it. (You can also share pictures on my Facebook page.)

This free pattern uses cotton yarn. Check out Lion brands new Re-Up Yarn

Lion Brand’s new recycled cotton, gives knitters and crocheters another reason to love working with cotton. It’s eco-friendly! It takes, on average, 20,000 liters of water to make 1 kilogram of cotton. By using one 70 gram ball of Re-Up you are saving 1,400 liters of water. So try Re-Up for your next cotton project: you’re going to love how it feels to work with and how it feels to help save the planet while doing the craft you love. You can learn more about it here on this video below.

https://youtu.be/SP1e_baGcJs

When I discovered Kate Atherley’s book Circular Knitting for Beginners and Beyond, I wasn’t sure there was enough to say about circular knitting to fill a book. It’s a pretty short book (144 pages) and includes 10 patterns to practice working in the round on small projects, and it provides a decent introduction to the various ways of working in the round.

The book covers using double pointed knitting needles, flexible double points and circular knitting needles with cables. It talks about working using the full circumference of a circular needle and various ways to work smaller circumference projects, such as using DPNs, magic loop and knitting with two circular knitting needles.

In addition there’s a discussion of preventing problems like twists and ladders, swatching in the round without actually swatching in the round, grafting, blocking and weaving in ends.

More specialized techniques likes knitting from the center out, stranded colorwork, helical knitting and jogless stripes are also explored, as well as working pieces like socks or mitts two at a time.

There’s also some information about seamless sweaters, including the different sweater designs that can be worked seamlessly (and why you might want seams in your sweaters) and how they are worked from the top down or the bottom up.

There are 10 patterns in the book, including a basic stockinette stitch cowl and one with a deliberate twist, wrist warmers, mitts and a pair of colorwork mittens, a hat worked in a solid color or in helical stripes, toe up and top down socks and a beret. It would have been nice to have a basic sweater pattern, too, since the book does talk about working larger garments with circular needles, but it’s still a nice collection of basic patterns worked in the round.

If you’re already comfortable working in the round in different ways, I’m not sure there’s much for you to learn in this book, but it is a good reference for people learning circular knitting or who maybe haven’t tried all the techniques yet or need skill building projects to try.

About the book: 144 pages, paperback, 10 patterns. Published 2026 by David & Charles. Suggested retail price $24.99.

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