It’s been just over a week since we had our official cast-on for the Goldfish Memory shawl, and it’s time for a progress check in. I’m pretty pleased with how mine is shaping up so far. These first two colors are Neighborhood Fibre Co’s Studio Sock in Waverly and Rosemont.

One of the things I like best about this pattern is how quickly the pattern changes. The first three sections are variations on two-color striping, which is a great way to test out your tension. When I first learned striping I wasn’t consistent with how I carried my yarn, and it’s taken time to get accustomed to how tight I pull. For this pattern, I’m carrying up the back, and when starting each new color I like to hold both strands together for the first few stitches; only the maroon strand is being used, but keeping hold of both yarns lets me maintain tension for an even edge.

I’ve just started on section three, where we get fun checkerboard sets. I love this part of the pattern: the design is super fun, and it lets me practice stranded color work. On the front side we’re pulling CC2 up over two rows, and floating CC1 along the back. From the front my CC1 is falling behind the CC2 columns; the back view shows you my floats with a gentle sag so I have room to stretch the fabric to its proper shape once I block the finish shawl. I like to give my working needle a little tug as I pull the stitch off in order to give my floats a little more room; I’m trying to counter my habit of pulling my yarn just a little tighter right before a stitch.

I hope everyone is having fun with this KAL, and remember to share your progress on our Ravelry page and tag your work on Instagram with #fsGoldfishMemoryKAL