(warning: spoilers ahead. Don’t scroll down if you want to knit this as a mystery)

I finished the MMKAL!
Even though last week wasn’t the best week for knitting, I caught up. By Friday I finished the fourth clue before the epilogue came out. The epilogue was a fun story and the pattern was a little bit frightening at first. I mean… over 78″ of purled i-cord? Man!
But it turned out i-cord knitting isn’t that bad. In fact the simple, repetitive knitting was just what I needed. So Saturday I brought my knitting to the garden (we had some very hot and sunny weather) and i-corded along.

Last week I showed close-ups of the first three sections. Here’s the fourth section. A mystery lace.

As a final touch I had to weave the i-cord through the holes along the border. It’s kind of hard to see. I guess this yarn should have been a more popping color after all. But I still like the result.

The final shawl is huge! I think partly because my gauge is off. That was to be expected, since I didn’t bother to check it at all. Before I started I figured Mystery Knit Alongs should be fun and relaxed. So I picked up some very cheap acrylic yarn (the whole project cost less then 10 Euro), thinking I could always decide to knit it again in good yarn I I really, really liked the outcome.

I now believe this was the best way to go (for me) and I will probably do this again for another MKAL.
On the forums I’ve seen so many people being bothered by the thought of spending a lot of money to make something they weren’t sure they’d like. I also know there are people waiting to see what the final results are before they decided to make it. But then you miss all the fun of the mystery and the knitting along. There was also concern about the time it took to make it (again, something they weren’t sure they’d like), but I think mystery knitalongs really are more about the process than about the result. I hope next time I will be able to participate in the forums instead of just reading them, that would be even more fun.

Anyway, here it is. There are loops of i-cord at both ends, but those don’t show up in the pictures.

Did I mention it’s huge?

But it’s wearable. I like wearing it like this. Maybe I’ll actually use it (when it’s colder).

Yep, that was fun!

Linking up with Jeannie Gray Knits’ Makers’ Monday and Frontier Dreams’ Crafting on

I’m still working on the MMKAL (Murder Mystery Knit Along). It’s really fun. It’s turning into something I’d never chosen to knit from a picture, but I even think I might use it every once in a while (I’m not really a shawl person). I learned some new techniques and stitches that I probably will use on other projects and I learned to read a chart.
The story accompanying the patterns is actually very good. Even if you don’t want to knit this pattern, you should go and read the narrative. Especially if you’re familiar with knitting terms it’s a really clever and enticing read.

But… it’s a. lot. of. knitting. Really. I thought this would be a side project and I would be knitting hats too, but truth to be told, I’m always behind on clues. I just started clue #4, that came out on Friday. This one isn’t that much knitting though, so maybe I will be catching up now.

Anyway. Pictures. Spoilers ahead (so if you want to knit it as a mystery knit along – don’t scroll down).

The shawl after I got three chapters done. The fourth chapter starts on the right.

The first section was stripes and wedges. My popping color wasn’t popping at all (it’s a pastel variegated yarn), but I like the way that works out.

The second section was a very clever basket weave. I would love to make a blanket, pillowcases or bags with this stitch.

The third section was an illusion knit. Horizontal stripes if you look down on it…

Vertical stripes if you look from another angle. Fun!

The fourth section is lace, but I’ve only got two rows done.

The big question now is: will it end with the lace section, or are the other colors (after every section one color “dies”) making a last appearance in a border or something? And of course: who was the killer? Oh, wait, chapter four already gives that away, we just don’t know how the story will end yet – chapter four left our friendly P.I. (Slip Knitwise) in a dangerous situation. Have to wait till Friday to see if it all gets solved in the end. Told you it’s a fun read 😉

Linking up with Jeannie Gray Knits’ Makers’ Monday

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Well, I never intended to go into a blog silence for almost two weeks, but that ear infection was a bad one. The minimal amount of energy and concentration I could muster had to go into a big editing project (somebody else’s novel). I’m also really sorry for not answering the friendly comments you all left, but I just wasn’t able to find the words to do so. I guess that was a combination of pain, fever, fatigue and probably also because my focus was on Dutch for the editing job. This week, I’ll try to pick up where I left off.

Despite all that, I was able to knit a bit. So last week, I finished my cardigan.

It started as a completely different cardigan five years ago. Back then I thought it would still fit if lost weight, but it turned out it didn’t. I wore that first cardigan a lot the first three years, but when I actually lost that weight, I just didn’t feel good anymore. And so it just hung in my closet. Until I finally got my act together and saved that yarn from ending up in a thrift store. I thought that would be a shame, it was a birthday gift and rather expensive. So I frogged the cardigan last year and started searching for the perfect pattern. But I couldn’t find one, so I decided to improvise it since I did have an image of what I actually wanted in my mind.

It worked. The lace pattern is from an old booklet and for the yoke design I used my favorite knitting book (Knitting without tears by Elizabeth Zimmermann). I love that book. It’s just what I need to help me to improvise the things I make (I tend to prefer not using patterns).

I’m so happy with the result! It fits like a glove and it feels so good to wear. I’ve been wearing it a lot ever since I finished it. On to another three (or more) years of enjoying this yarn…

Linking up with Jeannie Gray Knits’ Makers’ Monday and Frontier Dreams’ Crafting on

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Well, that settles it. I’m definitely a one-project-girl. After I decided to focus on the cardigan while I make up my mind about the colors of the MKAL (I think I’m going to keep them), I got into a flow. And now… well, look at that:

Finished the sleeves, added a bit of length to the body and now I’m knitting away at the yoke (with a bit of help from Elizabeth Zimmermann, ofcourse). 

Since it’s a lot of garter stitch, I manage to read while I’m knitting. Still working my way through The Kitchen Witch series by Morgana Best. I’m now halfway the fourth book and this one is the best sofar. Still not brilliant, but entertaining and easy to read. Just what I need for knitting. And for nursing myself out of an inner ear infection (yeah fun! It seems this weekend was only the start of it)…

Linking up with Ginny’s Yarn Along at Small Things

Three things I’m thinking about today:

:: how knitting a sweater is hard work for this instant gratification lover. Still working on those sleeves. Tempted to start a side project, but I’m not sure I want to. I’m usually a one project girl and when I do start several projects at once most of the time I end up working on just one and frogging the rest.

:: why I never realized that sweater dresses (still love the one I made a while ago) and leggings would make the comfiest winter uniform? I wore it a lot since we came back and would love to have more of them. But knitting a wardrobe full of those for the short periods of time we’ll spend in real winter weather after our move to Curacao seems silly.
(I’m absolutely not thinking about all the hiccups we’re encountering to actually make that move happen – nope, not me)

:: the color choices I made for the Mystery Knitalong. Not sure about the third one (the one on top in the picture below). The instructions say it should be variegated or speckled yarn and it can be a crazy accent/pop color with not much in common with the rest. I had a limited choice, limited time and a limited budget, so this was the best I could do. There was another yarn that was much more crazy and popping, but um… too crazy and popping to my taste. It’s hard to see in the pictures, but this one has green and pink in it, which does make it different from the other three.
Anyway, we’ll see how this works out. First clue will be online tomorrow. Oh wait, there’s my side project. Didn’t realize that until I wrote this down. Ha!
Also: I do feel a bit guilty about buying these yarns in a cheap textile store while the whole thing was set up to honor local yarn store day. But a. we don’t have a lys around here; b. the only one I know of is not a shop I was very excited about after visiting it a few years ago and c. I really don’t have the budget for it right now – never do actually. But… I googled for yarn stores in this region and found one in Rotterdam that I really do want to visit someday, preferably with (a lot of) spending money. So that’s something, I guess.

Linking up with Carole Knits’ Three Things