
It's finally almost here, Gentle Readers: The beginning of our first-ever and long-awaited Mystery Knitalong! Starting on Monday at 12:00 Noon PST, Everyone who has purchased the pattern for "Flight Path" on Ravelry will receive a pattern update which will allow you to download the first Clue.
Devoted and loyal readers that you are, I know most of you have already bought your pattern. But in case any of you were on the fence, or putting it off until a little closer to the KAL, the time has come! And if you've already joined, why not ask a friend to come along with you? Is there someone you know who would like to try out stranded colorwork for the first time, perhaps with your help? How about a knitting friend far away who'd like to do this project together "with" you? Do you belong to any groups on Ravelry that you think would like knowing about our little party? Help me get the word out! If you get friend to join between now and the beginning of the KAL, send me a message on Ravelry and I'll send you a surprise...And remember, I have friends at certain *cough-Abstract-cough* yarn companies, so when I say "surprise", I mean a really GOOD surprise...
It might be the only time I've ever said this: I can't wait for Monday!
Last fall, I was blessed and lucky enough to be invited to design an exclusive pattern and class for the Madrona Winter Retreat. It was one of those hurry-up-in-time-for-registration projects, so I had to bang out a representative sample for the design in time to post in the Madrona Catalog. You might remember seeing it:
It's a sweet little mitten, with the promise of a matching beret (which I made later, when the time presented itself). The mitten photo was posted on my blog, and in the Madrona catalog, with the hopes that potential students would say to themselves "Yes! I would like to make that little mitten, and the beret (which I cannot yet see!) to match!"
And all was well throughout the land. I made the matching beret (twice, actually, if you want to know, because the first one just wasn't good enough). Then last week, on the very day that I was going to photograph it for the Madrona catalog, guess what happened?
Sorting through the mail, I absent-mindedly flipped through the pages of a national yarn and knitting catalog I receive, and there it was: A pattern for entrelac gauntlet mittens, with a matching beret! Right there, in that catalog, whose circulation is about a billion knitters. Would you believe it? That Major Yarn Company and I had the exact same idea for a matching set of entrelac accessories! Apparently on the exact same day! That has to be the explanation, because I know that company well, and they have been very supportive of me and my work. They are good people, some of whom even read my blog. They would never, even by accident, filch a design from me, because that would be despicable. Nope. Coincidence, it is.
Well, what could I do? It was obvious that I should go ahead and post my beret photos. The Madrona catalog promised a beret. I had created a beret. And that had been my plan all along.
But I didn't. I did something else instead. Because I am an agile, creative, one-woman show, the Mary Scott Huff Hand Knitter machine kicked into overdrive and outsmarted the Big Fat Yarn Company. I turned on a dime, and then changed gears, from Beret to Cloche:
This looks great on everyone who tried it on at Knit Nite. Four people asked me about it while I was out shopping. You're gonna love it - I know, because I do. The flower is actually a pin that you can wear on the hat, move to your coat lapel, or give to a friend. Big Fun, Gentle Readers.
You can buy the kit for this (hat, mittens and pin set) two ways:
1. Sign up for my class HERE and learn to make it (still some seats left)!
2. Pick one up at the Abstract Fiber booth at the Madrona Retreat
Remember, it's an exclusive, so those are the only ways to get it for now.
I'm really happy I shifted gears. I bet you will be, too.
I've long felt that I could hear the yarn speaking to me:
Freshly-dyed skeins for your Flight Path Mystery KAL
And now I can prove it.
Warning: This post contains graphic images of Sweater Cutting. Steek-Squeamish Knitters are advised to proceed with caution.
My "Swatch" for the Queen Bee cardigan is done. It grew up into two super-cute sleeves, just as I hoped it would:
Conjoined Sleeves, with steeks between
Separating the Twins
Independent Entities
Dead. Sexy. Sleeve.
That's all there is to it. I'll sew the underarm seams from the right side, with matching yarn and mattress stitch. This will allow me to match the pattern perfectly at the seam {insert OCD remark here}. Then I'll cover the "seam allowance" on the inside with bias tape or ribbon. And the best part of all? Not weaving in A SINGLE YARN TAIL. That's right. They'll all be secured by the steek, neatly trimmed, and hidden on the WS by the seam binding. Which means that I could have changed colors in this sleeve on every single row, and never had to weave any ends in. Sassy Much?
Say it with me now: Stranded Colorwork Is Not Hard!
In case you didn't get around to checking Ravelry this weekend, I'm delighted to tell you that the Mystery Knitalong kits are ready for order!
If you click the obnoxiously-glowing button on the sidebar here, you'll be taken to the Abstract Fiber website where you can buy them for - are you ready?- $15.00 each! I don't know about you cats, but in my world, when I can't decide between two colorways, and then it turns out that they are SO fairly priced, why, the solution to Get Both is totally obvious.
And while I'm on about our mystery knitalong (when am I not?), I think it's time I offered you a sneak peek:
This is an extreme closeup of the sample made from Colorway 2. Notice anything unusual about this colorwork? Take your time. I'll wait.
Post your guesses, and I'll tell you when somebody figures it out. Bwaaaa Haaa Haaaa! I love this KAL game a little too much.
I think I may have a future as a benevolent knitting overlord.
Congratulations, Emily! With a close second to Audrey, whose guess was almost correct. Yes, the stitches are upside-down. But I photographed the sample right-side up. So how can that be???
Love,
Mysterious Mary
Congratulations, Susan and Ginny! You cleverly surmised that (at least the part in the photo) is worked from the top down. My Gentle Readers are all such clever Beasties. I'm gonna have to make the next one way harder...
MM
It's no longer an empty threat, my friends: I have yarn, and I'm not afraid to use it.
What you see here is two sleeves (being worked together), which are the beginning of your long-awaited Queen Bee cardigan.
Here's a profile shot, in which you can see one of the steeks, with a sleeve growing on either side of it. Those who have made this sweater in the baby version (The Bees Knees) will notice that I have added a skep motif to the border. That's because I decided that the original proportions of the sweater were perfect for a Smally to wear, which means they are not right for an adult. I needed to make the scale more, well, Queenly. Which feels right to me so far.
And why, you might ask, would I start with the sleeves? Because I've knit this motif before, and I've used this yarn before, but this is the first time the two have really met. It's actually my gauge swatch, in addition to being my first pass at the newly-enhanced Bee border. I wanted to make a swatch which stood some chance of becoming part of the sweater, and my steeked cardigans only contain 2 knitted pieces (that's right: a cardigan sweater made from 2 tubes: how sexy is that?). So it was either the conjoined sleeve unit, which starts out with 132 sts, or the main body tube, which begins with 336. Even I can figure out that kind of math. Sleeves it is!
And of course you will want to know what yarn this is: Blue Moon FIber Arts BFL Sport
Can you believe it? I've been promising knitters that I would tackle this project for over two years, and it's finally happening! Bust out the honey, my Queens. It's gonna be SWEET.