My Sister's Shawl Finished

So Clue 5 of the My Sister's Shawl mystery knit-along has come and gone. The shawl was finished mirroring the shape of the first side.

I got about two rows done of the red before I ran out, so it's a good thing I had the second ball ready to go.

I blocked it with blocking wires on some foam squares I picked up at a yard sale. There's no place big enough (and vacant) in the house, so I forced it into the kitchen. We couldn't walk through to the dining room (office) for a couple days, but you can get in from the other side, so that was ok.

The final dimensions are huge; this shawl goes on forever. The longest side is 105"; the shorter side opposite, 52". The width straight across is 24" and the angled edges are 36" long. Big.

Here is a shot of the I-cord bind off with my modification so that the I-cord would run continuously.

I like that rounded point.

You may be able to make out the I-cord edging in the next pic:

follIt is a mystery knit-along, right?

What follows are a few basic ways to wear it that first came to mind.

Double wrapped with the ends knotted at the back:

 Wrapped once around and pulled over the shoulders:

 I really like how this covers my shoulders and upper back when I'm cold.

 The double wrap with the ends hanging loose:

Realistically when I wear it around my neck, I wrap it three times because the thing is just so long. The fabric is loose and drapey enough that it works.

I finished the shawl in time to submit it for (randomly drawn) prizes, but I didn't win any. :(

Project Stats
Started: 31 Dec ‘17
Finished: 30 Jan ‘18
Pattern: My Sister's Shawl by Cozy Up Designs, $5.95 CAD (It was released as a mystery knit-along but you can now buy the pattern in full.)
Materials: Plymouth Yarn Estilo Hand Dyed (the speckle), colour 4 Black Red Mix; and Plymouth Yarn Reserve Sport in 301 Red Mix and 304 Grey Mix

My Sister's Shawl - Clue 4

Clue 4 of the My Sister's Shawl mystery knit-along (by Cozy Up with the Stitchin Sisters) was released this week.

Now that the shawl has largely taken shape, it's wasn't too surprising that we continued mirroring the first side with colours and stitch patterns.

The description of how Clue 4 came about was cute. Each clue has been credited to one of the sisters who designed it. Clue 4 was Katie's and the story is that she wanted it to be the same as her twin's (Clue 2) so that is why we are doing the same colours and stitches. A good story. :)

Here is a look at the whole shawl (or what could fit in the camera's field of view):

It's still looking a little straggly but I'll have to wait for blocking to see it in nice shape.

Here I've zoomed in on just the Clue 4 area, the eyelets and lace sections:

It was a little less knitting, especially compared to Clue 3, and it was nice to have an "easy" week. Some people are having a hard time with the diamond lace as well so this gives them more time to tackle it.

Clue 5 is officially out on Monday, but probably will be released on Sunday (as the rest were). That is the last one so whatever shape it takes, the shawl will be done next week.

My Sister's Shawl - Clue 3

Clue 3 of the My Sister's Shawl mystery knit-along by Cozy Up Knits was released on Sunday. It felt like there was more knitting in this clue, but since a lot of the rows were getting shorter, there may actually have been fewer stitches knit.


First up was to finish the one side we were already working on. After Clue 2, we had finished the grey lace section and the grey and white stripes afterward. Clue 3 topped these with a garter eyelet section, more stripes and then mesh lace and broken seed stitch stripes to mirror what had already been done.

Only this time, all of the rows were getting shorter on the one side. This came to a point, and I assume this side of the shawl is done. (But who knows!)

The pattern has you decrease the last 10 stitches quickly in the last row while binding off with a regular stitch-over-stitch bind off.

We had all that pretty I-cord edging and I didn't want to interrupt it. So once I reached the final 10 stitches, I bound off the centre four stitches with an I-cord bind off using the first I-cord. This brought the right I-cord around the corner. I finished by stitching the right I-cord to the left so the stitches run continuously. (Basically, Kitchener stitch. It was very fiddly.)

Then we did a complete about-face and the rest of the clue had us working from the beginning, but in the opposite direction. I had used the crochet provisional cast on so I only had to unzip the crochet stitches to reveal the live stitches.

As each crochet stitch came out, I slipped the red stitch onto a needle:

I used a much smaller circular needle because the stitches from a provisional cast on are often very tight if you use the needle size that you're knitting with. Since the size of the stitches are only determined by the needle that's making the new stitches, I can use a much smaller needle to hold the stitches waiting to be knit without any effect. (Besides the intended effect of being able to get my needle in them to knit them.)

Here's the entire new live edge on the needle:

The provisional cast on is right in the middle of a lace section. Assuming this is the middle of the shawl (it may not be since I don't know what the entire shawl looks like), it is natural to put the cast on there. But there would have been less risk of mistakes and the join would have been less apt to be noticed if it had been between one of the lace mesh and the seed stitch sections.

In any case, the way I did the cast on put the YOs (yarn overs) on the needle. I think the cast on given in the pattern adds an extra knit row. (You're making stitches on two needles instead of just one.) So the pattern continued straight into the lace rows with the YOs. I had to insert a row of knitting first to make up for the row that wasn't included in the cast on. This was not a big deal, but when you start doing things "off pattern", you have to be prepared to be adjusting for that in the rest of the pattern.

Here is the second part of Clue 3:

We finished the lace mesh in the center, added a seed stitch section and then some more lace mesh. Looking at the actual shawl, I am not able to see where the provisional cast on. Here in the picture, I notice there is a slight line. (You can see it in the middle of the middle lace section.) I think this is a result of the change in direction of the stitches. But if I had been given this shawl blindly and told to figure out the construction, there's no way I would see the cast on.

Here is the entire shawl after Clue 3:

I've only got a couple yards of the red left and I'm going to need more. (I didn't notice when I purchased the yarn, but all of the balls have less yardage than recommended by the pattern so I knew there was a chance I would have to buy more.)

I was hoping to go yesterday and then today, picking up another ball when I picked up my new special order needle set. But the needles haven't arrived yet. (I keep getting "Tomorrow" "Tomorrow". Well, ok, two times.) Hopefully they still have the same dye lot in stock...

In the picture above, I think the shawl looks pretty short. When you hold it up and the weight of the shawl does it's thing, it's up to my shoulder -- getting pretty long!

New Year Cast On: My Sister Shawl MKAL

I'm doing something I've never done before - a mystery knit-along (MKAL).

Recently, I've started following a knitting podcast hosted by three sisters (and sometimes the fourth sister joins them), Cozy Up with the Stitchin Sisters. They live in northern Alberta (like five hours north of Edmonton - that is way up there) and podcast weekly about their knitting life.

I find them very entertaining and one of them very much reminds me of one of my sisters. (I'll let you try to figure out which sister reminds me of which of my sisters. :)

When they announced they were hosting their first mystery knit-along, I decided I would like to play along. I generally avoid mystery -alongs because I like to know what the finished product is going to be (and how I can change it to make it into what I want it to be). But I decided to put that aside and go along for the ride.

The first "clue" was going to be released New Year's Day (a "clue" being the instructions for that week) and in late December, I still didn't know what yarn I was going to use. I thought I could use some raveled cashmere from my stash but it turned out I didn't have enough or suitable colours.

I had just heard of a new yarn store so I went to check it out one afternoon. There are so many pretty yarns in so many pretty colours, but they're not all wearable with a wardrobe. Some people seem to be able to put on any shawl with any outfit and look great, but I never feel good when I try it. So I decided to look for colours that I could wear with my wardrobe. Like red and black and white (or natural).

They had quite a selection and I had a lot to look through. The pattern told you to get two solids and a speckled yarn. I debated trying three solids or some other combination because I don't really like speckled yarns, but then decided to just go with it and do what the pattern said.

I looked all through the store and narrowed it down to two options. Neither was black and red, but they were pretty colours. When shopping for yarn (or fabric), you usually have to drop whatever idea you had going in and go with what's available. I've come to expect that.

So I settled on one of the options and as I was putting away the skeins I wasn't going to use (I am a considerate shopper), there on the other side of those skeins was the very thing I had in mind!

This is why I wander slowly and keep looking - it's so easy to miss something the first time past. So I was very happy with the yarn I was able to get. They're all wool/silk blends (the red and black have some bamboo as well).

And since the Stitchin Sisters are "can't-wait" sort of people, they released the first clue on December 31 and I got to stitching!

The pattern started with the red and a provisional cast on. I chose to use the crochet cast on so it would be easy to pick up the stitches when they're needed.

You can see there's some lace mesh, then the broken seed stitch for some texture and then more lace mesh.

Then there's a lot of garter stitch as more colours are brought in and a few eyelets.

And here is the entire Clue 1:

The weird shape is because the lace mesh is a very biased fabric and skews on the diagonal. Hopefully that will block out, but even if it doesn't it will be unlikely to affect the look while the shawl's being worn.

So far there is far too much garter stitch for me (although it is a great chance to practise knitting continental style). I much prefer stocking stitch, but I am still along for the ride. Clue 2 comes out on Monday so we'll see where that takes us!