I knit the Aurora Cabin shawl by Westknits using all stash yarn. I ended up running out of some colors and making adjustments as I went, but I loved making this shawl. Keep reading for my experience knitting the Aurora Cabin shawl.
I saw this glimpse of the Aurora Cabin Shawl on Westknit’s Instagram back in June and I was so intrigued by this stitch pattern.
The pattern wasn’t announced or released at the time, so there wasn’t any information available. I tried to recreate the stitch pattern from this video, but my little swatch wasn’t quite the same.
When the Aurora Cabin Shawl pattern was finally released as part of the 2022 Hiberknitalong, I was so excited that the pattern was also available as a stand alone pattern. I cast on my Aurora Cabin shawl that same day.
YARN
I wanted to cast on this pattern right away, so I selected yarn from my stash. I was really happy that I had some similar colors to one of the samples, so I didn’t need to scrutinize a palette too hard.
- Sansa (cashmerino) La Bien Aimee
- Prowl (denali sock) Explorer Knits and Fibers
- RGO (kumo) La Bien Aimee
- Bright Orange (merino ht fingering) Moondrake
- Coral (merino ht fingering) Moondrake
I rearranged my colors from the sample’s colors because I was low on the Prowl color. I started with only 74g so I placed it as my color B which calls for the lowest yardage. Color B estimates using 340 yards, so I would still be ~44 yards short. I figured that I could sub more of one of the other colors if I ran out.
I like this color palette a lot. I don’t usually use a lot of reds in my knitting, so this was a fun departure for me. I think the colors, with the brown, give it a kind of 70’s vibe.
AURORA CABIN SHAWL
The Aurora Cabin shawl is a semi-circular shawl that is knit from the top center down to the chevron border. There is an option to end early with an I-cord bind off for a smaller shawl. The Aurora Cabin shawl calls for five colors in fingering weight yarn. It uses US 4 needles and a cable needle to knit the different slip stitch sections, stripes, and border.
Cast On
I cast on with the recommended US 4 needles on a 50″ cable. I liked the cast on and how the slipped stitches grow and fan out.
Multi-Color Traveling Slip Stitch
This pattern is so fun and unique. I loved getting to see all of my colors together in this section. The red is so vibrant and it really pops; it’s on the kumo base by La Bien Aimee and it’s super soft. I love having a soft, fluffy color to add some new texture.
The cable row was a little tricky for me at first. Using a cable needle for only a few stitches at a time is a little awkward. I eventually got better at managing the extra needle, and I was excited to see the stitch pattern appear. I couldn’t wait to block this shawl to really stretch out and show that graphic detail.
I later found a post in the Hiberknitalong 2022 Ravelry group, where user alrightyyheidi posted a super helpful video, knitting the cabled row without a cable needle. I will definitely try out this technique next time I knit this shawl/multi-color traveling stitch.
Stripes
The striped section was a welcome break from the slip stitches and cable rows. I knit using colors C and D as the pattern called for, and the stripes are really intense. The red with the orange/yellow are really bright. I was looking forward to using the brown to calm everything down/anchor the shawl.
Multi-Color Slip Stitch Repeat
The multi-color slip stitch pattern is repeated again before moving onto the next band. The pattern is really pretty and fun to work, but I was very slow at knitting the cabled row.
Carrying Yarn
The most “difficult” part of the pattern is managing the attached yarns. Stephen West posted a video to help visualize how to carry the yarn and manage the colors:
I carried my yarns a little differently than shown in the video. Since there is a faux I-cord edge, you are always knitting the first three stitches at the beginning of every row.
I would knit the first two stitches as normal. Then on the third knit stitch, I would wrap all the other colors around to carry them up (similar to weaving in ends as you go, but just for that one stitch). That way, all the colors are neatly bundled together all the way up the side.
Slip Stitch Stripes + Yarn Swaps
The slip stitch dotted stripe pattern used colors E and A, but in my palette, light pink and creamy pink wouldn’t give enough contrast. I chose to swap my colors to E and C (light pink and red) so the slip stitch pattern detail could shine.
I didn’t even consider that this swap would affect my yarn quantities for the rest of the pattern. But as I ended this section, I noticed that my color C was getting low. I started out with full skeins of everything except my color B, so I didn’t think about not having enough of the other colors. But the Kumo skeins are 328 yards which is less than was required for any of the colors. So I would have run out of color C even if I hadn’t made this swap. I was pretty bummed, since I felt like the red was the pop that really made this shawl fun/different.
Multi-Color Slip Stitch Repeat + Color Adjustments
I should have double checked and planned a little better, but I was so excited to cast on. I considered ordering another skein of the red, but it would have been ~$50 with shipping. Ultimately, I decided to “say yes; don’t stress” like Stephen talks about, and just continue as long as I could with the red.
I got through Row 32 with color C (less than 1g remaining) of the multi-color slip stitch repeat. The pattern called for 6 more rows and the icord bind off in color C. It might have been worth it to try and get the second skein, but I decided to just color swap to the end. And then I saw this video where Stephen mentions that color swapping may result in not having enough yarn:
I was nervous to run out of colors, but committed to just working the shawl with the yarn I had. I insert a lifeline in case I didn’t like the new color swaps and wanted to rip back though.
Chevron Border
The chevron border section is knit in colors B and D, but I was super low on color B and I was reserving my 25g of color D for the cord bind off. So I opted to use the only color I had left — color A. I knit the first 4 rows in color A, weighing my yarn along the way, so I knew that each row was ~4g. I weighed my color B and I had 11g, so I decided to knit a two-row stripe in the brown which I think really helped the border.
I knit the one more repeat of Rows 3-6 using color A, but skipped the final Row 3-4 repeat before moving on the the icord set up/bind off rows.
I had just enough yarn to complete the icord in color D; I have <1g remaining. I think that an alternating stripe border as written in the pattern would have looked really good, but I am happy with how my shawl came out. I definitely had some extra stress from nearly running out of every color (except color A). Overall, I am super happy that I could complete this shawl using the yarn I had and not buying extra skeins.
BLOCKING + PINNING
I washed my shawl in cold water for a short time because I wasn’t sure if there would be any color bleeding. I rolled it up in a towel and then laid it out on my blocking mats.
I really wanted the little chevron points to be exaggerated, so I pinned each one.
This shawl is so pretty; I love how blocking really highlights all of the slip stitch detail.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I loved working on the Aurora Cabin shawl. The multi-color slip stitch design that Stephen West developed is so cool and was really fun to work on. I plan on using this stitch pattern in another “combination shawl”; I’m already planning my color palette!
This Aurora Cabin shawl was really fun for me too because these weren’t colors that I would normally choose, but I love how well they worked together. Check out my Ravelry page for a look at the other projects I’m working on!
